


Just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!

by Legit



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Action, Bad Jokes, Early 90's fashion, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Halloween, Happy Ending, Hocus Pocus (1993) References, Magic, Period-Typical Homophobia, Talking Animals, Witches, Your favorite childhood movie but gayer, crackfic, one zombie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-24 11:43:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8371021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legit/pseuds/Legit
Summary: After three centuries, three witches are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night, and it is up to two teenagers, a young boy, and an immortal cat to put an end to their reign of terror once and for all. Hocus Pocus - Clexa style.





	1. Twist the bones and bend the back

_“.. and when he realised his little sister had fled into the dark forest under the control of the witches, he desperately rushed into their clutches to rescue her, but it was just too late..”_

Lexa Woods slumped down in her desk and cradled her head in her palm as she watched the clock slowly burn out the very last few minutes of her very last class of the day, fingers drumming on the desk in irritation. While she had tried her best to adjust being forcefully relocated from sunny Los Angeles to the small town of Salem only weeks before her senior year of high school, her annoyance spiked this particular Friday as their teacher had donned a witch’s hat halfway through class and was now actually prancing around in front of the chalkboard as she excitedly chattered on.

_“..the potion, when drank by a child, had the ability to rejuvenate them and restore their youth.. and they sucked the life-force from his little sister as he looked on, helplessly..”_

She glanced around to witness all her classmates all looking on attentively, as if it was totally normal for a group of almost-adults to be earnestly learning about literal magic and witches in what was otherwise a perfectly respectable American History class. This was a strange town.

_“..then cast a spell on the poor boy that he take the form of a black cat for eternity, so he would suffer his failure forever..”_

She swiveled her head back around, just catching a pair of amused blue eyes trained evenly on her, and the corner of her lips turned up at the sudden dusting of pink that appeared on the other girl’s cheeks at being caught looking. Again.

Lexa relaxed back into her chair and folded her hands behind her head, letting her face fall into an easy smirk; flirting every afternoon with the most beautiful and popular girl in school made this strange town full of strange people seem ever-so-slightly less grim.

_“..neither his father nor his mother nor anyone else ever knew what became of him, those three hundred years ago. And so the witches were hanged by the Salem townfolk, and there are those who say on Halloween night, a black cat still guards the old Azgeda House, warning off any who might make the Ice Queen come back to life!”_

To punctuate the end of her story, the teacher actually lunged at a girl in the front row and hit her between the eyes with a paper streamer. The girl’s sudden shriek and fit of giggles made Lexa nearly jump out of her seat, as the class broke out in an amused wave of claps and chuckles.

Ok, not just strange, these people were clearly crazy.

“Give me a break,” she muttered, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it all.

“Miss Woods!” Her teacher barked over at her, and she jerked her head up to find every eye in the room suddenly trained on her. _Well, shit._ Her teacher thrust a crooked finger in her direction, and Lexa stiffened further in her seat. “Any California hippie-dippy tie dyed deep thoughts you’d like to share with the class?”

It was an oddly aggressive and judgemental question coming from a grown woman with a jack-o'-lantern embroidered on her sweater. Lexa started to shake her head no, before she caught Clarke Griffin staring at her again, clearly amused at her discomfort. _Well, two could play at that game._

She cleared her throat. “Um, the celebration of Halloween does have its roots in the ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, when people believed that the dead returned to earth on one night and, in hopes of keeping the ghosts at bay, people would put food and wine on their doorsteps. However, the traditions we know today only started in Medieval Britain, when the young would dress up in a costume and sing, recite poems, and tell jokes for food, wine, and money. Eventually, Halloween began making its way to America in the 19th century when Irish and Scottish immigrants revived the old traditions,” she paused, taking a dramatic breath and staring right at Clarke, “I suspect that’s where the fable of your witches comes in.”

Biting back a grin, Clarke raised an eyebrow back at her, her eyes shining, “But it’s not that far out there, seeped in history. You never know.. maybe tonight is really is the day the dead can come back to life?”

Lexa lowered her voice and matched her conspiratorial tone. “Well, in the 1950s, Halloween was commercialized at last and became a family-friendly holiday and not so much with the walking dead thing anymore. I’m pretty sure the pagans would tell us we’ve all sold out to major candy companies and they would be completely scandalized.”

A genuine bubble of laughter burst out from between Clarke’s lips and both girls found themselves wearing matching smiles as the class bell finally rang, indicating an end to this torture at last, and the classroom started to empty. Normally the first to spring from her seat at the promise of freedom, Lexa kept her eyes locked on Clarke’s amused face until she could see the pink from her cheeks had traveled all the way to the tips of her ears. _Game point, Woods._

“Hey, Woods!” of course the moment would be broken by _that_ shrill voice as Lexa found herself yanked from her seat by the lapels of her flannel shirt and roughly pulled face to face with Finn Collins, his floppy hair falling in carefully styled curtains around his stupid face.  

A stupid face which was now pulled taught with a menacing smile. “Get your lezza eyes off my girlfriend.”

At finding herself rudely half-hoisted in the air, Lexa scrabbled against his clenched hands for a moment but quickly found her bearings, shoving him back and using her momentum to stomp down heavily on his sneaker with a combat boot-clad foot. He stumbled backwards and she hissed at the startled boy through gritted teeth, “I’m sure Clarke can speak for herself.”

“Clarke?” she asked softly as she panned quickly over from Finn’s flushed face to look at the other girl, but found Clarke standing awkwardly beside her desk, staring pointedly at the floor. Clarke fidgeted her fingers nervously and smoothed down the pleated skirt of her cheerleading uniform several times over as the awkward silence stretched on a beat too long. Lexa’s face fell as she watched Clarke struggle to swallow down an obvious lump in her throat, clearly fighting back tears.

“Fine.” Lexa let out a small, weary sigh and turned away to toss her books into her backpack, slinging it over one shoulder as she stomped out of the classroom. She couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t break Finn’s fingers if he touched her again, but could only imagine how much more of a pariah she would become if she screwed up the school’s state championship chances by maiming their star quarterback. She had, however, managed to leave a large black scuff mark on the top of his brand-new Air Jordan's, and took it as the moral victory it clearly was.

Stopping at her locker, she furrowed her brow as she observed the latest slur scrawled across the metal door in bright red permanent marker. Her frown only deepened when she realized it was misspelled; now that lack of effort was truly insulting. Quickly surveying the damage, she pulled her shirt sleeve over her hand in an attempt to rub it off, but it stuck fast. She quickly dropped her books at the bottom of the locker and retrieved her jacket, slamming the door shut with far more force than necessary. That would have to be just another problem for the janitorial staff come Monday morning.

She navigated through the rapidly emptying hallway and joined the flood of students streaming from the building into the bright fall afternoon, slipping out the double doors to breathe in the crisp bite of the autumn air, already punctuated with the earthy tang of burning leaves and the promise of cold. She even smiled a bit with the satisfying crunch of fallen leaves where her heavy boots tossed through them, feeling Halloween in the air in a blaze of bright colors and satisfying smells. She was thankful the rest of the town was so wrapped up in the festivities and celebrations that she was left blissfully free from any academic or social responsibilities for the entire weekend.

By the time Lexa was halfway across the nearly empty school parking lot, she had shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her olive green canvas military jacket against the chill. She spotted Aden leaning against the passenger side of her old beater car, and as usual, her little brother was completely absorbed by the comic book he held up close to his face, his unruly blonde hair sticking out in odd places from under a woolen hat and his backpack hanging precariously off one arm. Another smile began to form as she remembered they had the entire house to themselves tonight, and a bootleg VHS of the _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ to help put the rest of this hellish week behind her. She would eat an entire pizza. Maybe even two.

Just as she finally reached the car, laughter cackled behind her from the bed of a lone pickup truck parked off to the side, and she paused, glancing over her shoulder. The football playing cretins gathered across the lot were leering over at her, making kissy faces and and beating their chests mockingly, clearly spoiling for a fight. After a beat, she shot them her most disarming smile and a cheerful, “Goooooo Witches!” in their direction as she pumped her fist in the air. The big blonde one scowled at her and the other three overgrown, letterman jacket-clad lugs behind him all turned their heads to the side in confusion. Thankfully they were all a bit stupid, and that kind of misdirected school spirit always seemed to work.

Situation defused for the moment, she hummed at Aden as she fished the keys from her back jeans pocket and unlocked the door, watching in wonderment as he somehow navigated opening the door, sliding into the passenger seat, and buckling in the seat belt without ever tearing his eyes from the comic book page. His capacity to multitask was impressive, indeed.

Lexa felt the hard smack to the back of her head a beat before she heard the boys hollering, then the cold shock of something slick and sticky started to drip down the back of her neck and pool inside the upturned collar of her jacket. She glanced down as the broken remnants of a styrofoam cup rolled sadly away across the concrete, and what wasn’t splattered on her back was clearly melting into a dirty red puddle at her feet. She turned back, catching the football players doubled over in laughter, and Finn now standing at the center, still poised with his hand in the air from where he had thrown what must have been a perfect spiral with a drink cup straight to the back of her head. The pickup bed shook as they all clambered to high five each other, and Finn looked as though he might cry from laughter. Her nostrils flared and she curled her fingers into a solid fist, considering her options. Suddenly, she caught a flash of golden blonde hair out of her peripheral vision, and turned to see those bright blue eyes pulling wide in shock as they took in the scene.

 _No, no, no._ She was definitely not up for another awkward encounter with Clarke today, and especially not when she was half-covered in re-purposed slushie.

Lexa spun back around and immediately abandoned any loosely-formed plans of revenge, instead yanking open the car door and sliding into the driver’s seat, wincing at the disgusting squelch and chunks of ice as they shifted down her spine to press against her lower back. Thank god for leather seats, she thought, as she fired up the engine, angrily shifting the stick into gear. With a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, she didn’t notice that Aden had not remained oblivious to all the chaos but had torn his eyes away from the page just in time to take in the retreating scene through the rear-view mirror. Lexa didn’t turn around, intent on peeling away from the school as fast as possible. She thought this day could hardly get any worse.

\--

Lexa stood for a long moment under the hot shower spray, vigorously scrubbing the ends of her dark brown curls and watching the slushy pink foam drain away, along with a fraction of her tension. And while the sharp chirp of the house phone ringing from down the hallway interrupted her mental vacation not once, not twice, but three times before she had turned off the tap, when she shouted through the closed bathroom door for Aden to pick it up, it had mercifully stopped. She couldn’t be sure if he had actually listened or if it had been ignored long enough for the caller to give up, but once things faded back into blissful silence, she allowed herself to linger in the hot steam and mentally piece together her pizza order. Stepping out of the tub and toweling off, dancing images of pepperoni and extra cheese had succeeded in overtaking confusing thoughts of pretty blonde girls for a few moments, at least.  

Half dressed in her most comfortable oversized Belinda Carlisle tee, she had a foot tangling in the stubborn leg of her sweatpants as Aden suddenly appeared at her bedroom door with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“Aden.” she hopped on one foot and attempted to glare at him, instantly sure he was up to something.

“Lexa.” he raised his brow and leveled her with the patented Woods glare. She had always thought herself immune, but almost shivered a bit at the full force of his attention. “I have a request. Trick-or-treating. Tonight.”

“You.. want to trick-or-treat.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yes.” As if it was clearly obvious.

“Tonight.”

“It’s Halloween!”

Finally dressed, she put her hands on her hips and eyed him closely. “What happened to ‘I’m way too old for that, Lexa?’”

He stood up straight and placed his hands behind his back, regarding her seriously. “I have reconsidered.”

She frowned. “I thought we were doing pizza and horror movies?”

He turned his head to the side and smiled sweetly. “Plenty of time for that after.”

“But we-”

“-I’m not going to miss this chance to stock up,” he interjected. “you know our parents would never let us binge on chocolate, and this town is ripe for the picking.”

Visibly blanching at the thought of her relaxing evening slipping away, she opened her mouth to object before Aden quickly ducked his head and then looked up pleadingly at her, his bottom lip quivering as though he was going to make himself cry. She blinked slowly, once.

He must have seen the moment she hesitated and he whooped in victory, dashing out of the room again before she could argue the point any more. _The little con artist._  

“We don’t even have any costumes!” she yelled after him.

“Oh yes, we do!” echoed back down the hallway.  

 _Well, shit._ Tonight, she was going trick-or-treating.

\--

She really had to hand it to Aden, when he set his mind to something he could really pull a project together, and their ad-hoc costumes looked amazing. She _felt_ amazing, somehow, dressed all in black with their father’s billowy silk shirt cinched by their mother’s ugly waist-high belt, and her long hair braided back under a tight bandana. While Aden had ardently tried to make her a mask by cutting eye holes out of one old knee-high stocking, she had opted for painting around her eyes with thick streaks of black lipstick instead. Thank goodness for that box full of makeup left over from her brief stint as a rebel goth, two summers ago.

She knew her last-minute Zorro struck an imposing figure that truly wasn’t to be messed with. And while the thin plastic sword strapped to her hip wouldn’t inflict any harm, she thought it pulled the whole costume together and looked menacing enough. In the back of her mind, she almost hoped to cross paths with those jerk-face football players so she could at least threaten to run them through. The smirk hadn’t left her face since they darted out of the car and joined the throngs of costumed ghouls and princesses that flooded the festive town streets.

Bags laden with candy after only a few blocks, they grinned at each other as they paused at the end of the road to appreciate how rural Massachusetts really was beautiful in a the fall, the moon settling low over the horizon, huge and yellow; Aden grabbed her hand and pulled her along, promising just one block more before they set home with their spoils.

“Whoa, look at this place.” Lexa’s jaw practically dropped as the last mansion on the block came into view, full-sized skeletons hanging from the rafters, every window of the three story house blazing with a lit jack-’o-lantern. Hay bales dotted the lawn, and a decorated scarecrow pointed invitingly towards the front door.

Aden’s eyes were blown wide at the sight. “Rich people. They’ll probably make us drink cider and bob for apples.” They met each other’s eyes and their faces split with matching grins before Lexa gave a sharp nod in affirmation as they raced up the stairs. As they poked their heads through the giant double doors, they both yelled, “Trick-or-treat!” but were met with nothing but an empty hall and the faint hum of classical music floating through the air.

“Whoa.. jackpot!” Aden squealed as he made a bee-line for a table set with massive bowls overflowing with candy, Lexa hot at his heels. They dove in with both hands, giggling at each other and Aden crowed victoriously, as Lexa grabbed three full sized bars in each fist.

“Well, well. Lexa Woods.”

Her head shot up to see Clarke, looking like a vision and grinning down at their antics from top of the grand staircase. She broke into a laugh as she descended, the silky fabric of her Snow White costume swishing against the plush carpet. Lexa gulped and felt her cheeks start to flush as she instantly dropped the candy back into the bowl.

“Hello, Clarke.” She managed to say evenly, her voice somehow not betraying her embarrassment at being caught red-handed looting the impressive spread. Clarke grinned wider, and, much to Lexa’s surprise turned to greet her brother. 

“Aden.”

“Clarke.” He nodded over at her with an easy familiarity, not even pausing as he grabbed more chocolate and stuffed it into his bag.

Lexa glanced between the two of them suspiciously, “Wait, how do _you_ two know each other?” The two blondes smiled and shared a sly look that made Lexa’s eyes narrow further.

“Er..” said Aden.

“Um..” mumbled Clarke.

“Long story.” They both said in tandem, and burst into a shared fit of giggles.  

“Oh look, cider!” said Aden, totally innocently, as he slipped away leaving the two girls standing together on the landing. After a long, awkward beat, Lexa tucked a braid behind her ear nervously and adjusted the sword at her hip, gripping the handle tightly. Clarke’s eyes followed the movement of her hands before she trailed up to meet her eyes. If Lexa didn’t know better, she would say the other girl kept leaning closer.

“Well, look at how good you clean up.” Lexa could almost feel the path Clarke’s wandering eyes traveled down, and then slowly up again once more. “You look so very dashing.”

Lexa cleared her throat and stood up straighter, uncertain how respond to this open admiration and encroachment of personal space after the way they had left things earlier. Clarke was a strange girl after all. “So.. how’s the.. party?”

“Boring!” Clarke huffed, “It’s just a bunch of my parents’ friends, they do this every year before they host the big gala downtown. I’ve got candy duty.” She gestured to the tables, “but clearly I’ve been slacking.”

“Yeah,” Lexa said sheepishly, “sorry about that. Wait, host?”

“Mom’s the mayor, you know. Halloween is the biggest night of the year for civic engagement around here.”

“Right.” Rich people. _Important people._  

“I like your costume, Aden.” Clarke said lightly as he wandered back over, mug of cider in hand.

“Thank you, I’m the Prince of Darkness. I like yours too.. it’s very.. fitted, isn’t it Lexa?” he smirked over at her, and Lexa thought the devil horns and forked tail he was sporting tonight had never looked more appropriate.  

Lexa knew it was a trap, she really did, but her eyes betrayed her and she felt them trail down Clarke’s body to check just how fitted that princess costume bodice really was. Very. _Holy yabbos._

Her eyes snapped back up and she swallowed thickly. “You look very nice, Clarke.” She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her voice that high and desperately hoped the paint around her eyes wouldn’t start melting down her cheeks with how hot they suddenly felt. Thankfully, Clarke’s face also flushed at the compliment and she seemed to bite back a smile as she looked shyly away. Lexa elbowed Aden in the ribs, but it didn’t stop him from looking extremely pleased with himself at the awkward state of affairs he had inspired.

“So, out for a Halloween adventure?” Clarke tried again, clearing her throat.

“Oh, no, we were just out trick-or-treating and now we’re headed ho-” Lexa started, but was rudely interrupted by as Aden grabbed onto her shirtsleeve, tugging her off balance.

“Hey Clarke, did you know that when the villagers of Salem finally captured the Ice Queen, she cast a spell from the gallows so that she could come back to life on Halloween night. That’s true, right?”

“Of course not, Aden.” Lexa frowned, but Clarke’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, don’t be so dismissive, Lexa, there is truth under there somewhere. They _were_ real. My mom used to fundraise for the museum in town.” Clarke replied, avoiding her puzzled face and looking right at her little brother instead.

“What interesting news! A museum!” said Aden, with a truly suspicious amount of enthusiasm. “Wow. Lexa, did you hear that?”

“Yeah, but they shut it down, you know, because a lot of _spooooky_ things happened there.” Clarke was grinning at Lexa now.

“We should go!” Aden piped up.

“What? Aden, no, we-” Lexa started, shaking her head.

“Come on Lex, let’s see your sense of adventure!” She didn’t miss the nickname fall from Clarke’s smiling lips as the two of them set on her with matching sets of pleading eyes.

She felt outnumbered. And for the second time that evening, felt clearly outmaneuvered at a game she didn’t even know she was playing. “Fine. Fine!”

“Great!” Clarke beamed over at her. “I’ll just change and we can go. You.. you guys can leave your costumes on.” She nodded once to herself and turned to bound up the stairs, and Lexa blinked over at Aden, who stood there tearing into a full sized Baby Ruth with a victorious smirk on his face.

Clarke seemed to reappear only moments later in overalls, one strap left fashionably unbuckled over a chunky, oversized sweater, her blonde hair pulled down from its princess updo and shoved under a knit beanie. If Lexa were to notice these things, and she wasn’t, she’d say Clarke was sporting a fresh coat of lipstick on her pretty, smiling mouth.  

“Oh, Jesus.” Lexa muttered to herself as they trailed back down the block and piled in her car, not failing to see the way that Clarke was stealing shy glances in her direction, and the way the cold night air made their warm breath visible in the space between them. Aden settled in and continued munching happily on a candied apple in the back seat, looking the picture of contentment. Devil horns and all.

She eyed him through the rear view mirror and he glanced up to flash a wink at her. Just what was he up to _now?_

Once they had safely pulled away from the bustle of the city center, silence settled in as Clarke’s fingers played nervously with the frayed hem of her sweater sleeves, and she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for earlier,” she almost whispered.

Lexa looked over at her sad expression with a gentle frown. Well, that was unexpected. “It’s ok.”

“It’s not. I.. I broke up with Finn.”

“Oh.” Lexa certainly wasn’t sure what to make of that bit of information, so stared back ahead at the dark road, and tried to keep her expression neutral, “Ok.”

Clarke clearly took it as a license to continue. “It wasn't only because of all that.. but it wasn't not. Because of this.” Lexa saw Clarke curl her fingers in a small gesture to point in the space between them, and glanced up to catch her eyes. She felt a jolt run through her at the heavy look Clarke was leveling at her. _Oh._

She turned back to the road. “Right. That’s great! Or not great, I’m sorry. Um..” If both hands weren’t now locked in a death grip around the steering wheel, Lexa was almost sure she would have slapped herself. _So very articulate, Woods._  

Clarke let out a low chuckle. “Yeah. I may have smacked him in the face with a pom pom. I may have made him cry.”

At that, Lexa snorted out a bit of laughter and she felt the atmosphere in the car considerably lighten. This time when she looked over, Clarke was grinning back at her, before she took a deep breath.

“Listen, Lexa, I-”

“Oh look! We’re here!” Aden practically squealed with delight from the back seat as an imposing iron gate suddenly came into view, signaling their arrival at the house and the end to whatever confession had been forthcoming. Lexa wasn’t sure if she was frustrated or grateful for the interruption as she stopped the car, letting out a long breath. _This day._

When Aden practically bounded out of the back seat, Clarke shot her a wink of her own and was out of the car right behind him. “Let’s go, Lexa! Adventure awaits!”

\--

The full moon lit the dark woods in creeping shadow and tendrils of fog seeped out over the overgrown grass around the towering stone walls, framing an absolutely eerie atmosphere as the three teens walked up the winding path to the old house. The night air felt as though it was seeping into her skin as Lexa thought perhaps wearing only a thin silk blouse was not the best decision for skulking around an abandoned museum at night. When she failed to tamp down a shiver, Clarke started leaning ever closer, bumping her shoulder as they walked; when they finally approached the gate, she almost jumped as Clarke’s low voice was practically in her ear as she purred, “Legend has it the bones of 100 children were buried beneath these walls.”

She wasn’t sure if it was a genuine attempt at flirting or if it was supposed to be quite that funny, but Lexa couldn’t help but snort. “And I’m sure each and every one of the little punks deserved it.” When she looked over, Clarke laughed brightly again and stepped even closer, threading her hand down between them to intertwine their fingers. _Oh._ Despite the chilly night, Lexa felt suddenly warm all over.

Stopping in front of the old iron gate, with a large CLOSED sign plastered right across it, the group took in the sight of the abandoned house for the first time. The thatched roof was sunken in and the trees twisted to wrap right around the frame, overgrown tendrils and branches trailing like fingers over the peeling walls and blackened windows. Lexa gulped. This was a bad idea.

Aden pushed through the rusty gate and darted up the groaning wooden stairs first, Clarke hot on his heels and pulling Lexa along by their entwined hands. She only dropped her grip to pull a wire from the pocket of her overalls as she bumped Aden to the side and set about picking the lock of the old front door. Lexa looked on questioningly with the raise of an eyebrow as the old latch clicked open, but Clarke just smirked back over her shoulder. She pulled Lexa close again and whispered, “Not my first time being bad.” Lexa felt the shiver run down her entire spine this time, and not from cold. _This girl._

As the three teens crowded through the creaking front door, they found the air thick with the stale smell of dust and cobwebs. Aden plowed ahead into the dark room and appeared to catch one smack in the face, sputtering and coughing loudly. Lexa couldn’t help but smirk at his misfortune.

“There _is_ a light switch around here somewhere,” Clarke remembered, and Lexa dropped her hand to move to the center of the large room as they searched, shuffling in the dark and bumping heavily into a dust-covered countertop, what once appeared to be a souvenir stand. Peeling the cobwebs off a long abandoned display of Zippos and plucking one from the case with her fingers, she called back, “Found a lighter!”

Near the door, Clarke trailed over the wooden beams and found the panel for the electric lights, flipping the switches randomly until the room flooded with a warm electric glow. They gasped as the brightness illuminated the array of dust covered shelves, cases filled with cracked glass bottles, and a large firepit with an imposing black cauldron hanging from the ceiling. At the center of the room, giant glass case sat square in the middle, and Clarke leaned over it to read the caption.

“This is the spellbook of Niafred Azgeda. _It was given to her by the Devil himself_. The book is bound in human skin and contains the recipes for her most powerful and evil spells.”

“I get the picture.” said Lexa, “All evil all the time. Very nice.”

Aden wandered to the far side of the room and let out a “whoa” as the two girls glanced in his direction. “What’s that?” Lexa asked, suddenly entranced at the sight.

“Oh, it’s the black flame candle,” Clarke whispered, pulling her over. It _was_ beautiful. Tall and white, it was gilded around the sides with amber colored images of what looked like winged demons and mystical symbols.

“So cool.” Aden hummed, brushing the cobwebs away.

Lexa slid up next to him while Clarke flanked her other side as she searched around the iron candle frame and found the descriptive placard. “Ooh, black flame candle, that’s what Mrs. Patterson was talking about, Lexa, made from the fat of a hangman. It says on a full moon it will raise the spirits of the dead when lit by a virgin on Halloween.” Clarke pulled a scary face and waggled her fingers right in Lexa’s face.

“Lit by a virgin? Pfff. That’s stupid.” She huffed, leaning away.

“Stupid? That’s kind of part and parcel for all this old time-y stuff, Lexa.” Clarke was clearly making fun of her now and she frowned.

“You know, the historical obsession with virginity is just a heterosexist social construct based on the idea that a penis is so important that it can fundamentally alter the worth, nay, the entire being of a woman based on proximity.” Lexa rankled. “Bullshit!”

When she glanced over to Clarke again, the other girl’s mouth had dropped open and her eyes were shining, nearly black in the dim light. “Lexa Woods, you are an absolute heartthrob without even trying.”

“Huh?” This time, if Lexa was taken aback at the sudden change in atmosphere, she caught on quickly, and she dropped her own voice low as she stared right back at Clarke. “Oh, of course.”

Had she not been preoccupied with the way that Clarke suddenly pulled her forward and pulled their bodies flush together, and the warmth spreading from the back of her neck up to the tips of her ears at the contact, she may have realized that Aden groaned over at them loudly, before he deftly stole the lighter out of Lexa’s loose fingers. Had she not started leaning in slightly, her eyes following Clarke’s hungry stare as it dropped down to her lips, she may have also noticed as Aden flicked the lighter, pressed it to the wick, and lit the candle.

The flame glowed orange for a brief moment and then sputtered into black.

Lexa felt her world tilt on its axis as Clarke let out a heavy sigh, the warm air brushing against her lips as they were drawn towards each other, before the desperate hiss and angry growl of a large black cat leapt off the rafters above them and aimed squarely for Lexa’s head. She shrieked and nearly fell backward with the impact. “What the fuck?!”

A violent wind started swirling around them and the bulbs from the electric lights started shattering, one after one, the chandelier above their heads swinging dangerously with the force. They gripped each other tighter, with wide eyes, as the floor began to shake and a strange green glow flooded into the room from under the floorboards. They looked up to see the candle flame blazing black, and Clarke squeezed her hands in a death grip.

“Aden, what did you do?” Lexa spun around to look at him, her voice rushing out in a hoarse whisper.

“A virgin.. lit the candle? Wait, that was real?!” Clarke sounded incredulous, grappling for Lexa’s body and  pressing up desperately behind her.  

Aden squeaked, dropping the lighter on the ground as he gripped the countertop and shouted back at her. “I’m twelve! I don’t even know what a social construct is!”

The wind suddenly dropped away as the rattling ceased and the old house fell into a pitch darkness. An eerily silent beat, then two, before the next moment, the candles on the large chandelier all sputtered to life, and the fire burst under the cauldron under the hearth with terrifying whoosh of heat. The three teens ducked down to hide as the glass in the windows rattled and a terrible shrieking shook the old wooden structure on its foundations.

After a long, groaning howl, the front door burst open with a crack of smoke and noise, and three terrifying figures stood silhouetted in the doorframe.

“See that children?” Nia cackled, throwing her arms open wide. “Oh, sweet revenge, we’re home!”


	2. Trim him of his baby fat

The old wooden frame of the Azgeda House continued to rattle, as the witches burst through the door in a cloud of white fog, their voices swirling in a cacophony of deafening cackles. Lexa crouched low behind the countertop and hissed over at Aden to get down, his eyes wide as saucers as he stood frozen in his spot, until she reached out a firm hand and snatched him back by the forked tail tied around his waist and he tumbled back into her. She pulled him close and felt Clarke press up firmly to her other side, and they shared a terrified glance, both breathing hard. Clarke swallowed down a gulp and clutched their entwined hands close to her body, and if Lexa wasn’t so overwhelmed with the fact that their pseudo-date adventure had turned into a literal nightmare, she likely would have found the gesture incredibly romantic.

As it was, they had accidentally recalled three evil witches straight back from hell. 

Sauntering into the center of the room, tall and imposing, was the Ice Queen herself, _Niafred Azgeda_ , and she twirled around taking in the scene with satisfaction, the sleeves of her intricate gown billowing out around her. “You see that, my children? My curse worked perfectly!” She threw her head back in a movie villain perfect cackle, the sound bouncing off the dust covered walls and echoing up through the ceiling.

“Of course it did, Mummy, because thou art perfect.” said the dark-haired young woman who trailed behind her, adoringly.

The third figure, a huge bear of a man, paused for a long moment in the doorway, and then shot his arm up in the air, searchingly. “Oh, look, Mummy, my lucky rat's tail, just where I left it!” he squealed, bouncing up and down on his toes and waving his prize in the air from where he had pulled it from the rafters. Nia rolled her eyes dramatically in his direction, before she seemed to train her gaze on the large white candle, still blazing with the onyx-colored flame that had brought them back from the dead.

“On All Hallow's Eve, when the moon is round, a virgin hath summoned us from under the ground. But _who_ lit the black flame candle?” She drummed her fingers on her sharp chin for a moment as she let the question linger in the room, then, she gasping, she floated over to the huge glass case that housed her spell book and began tapping gently on the top with a long nail.

“Wake up! Wake up sleepy!” she cooed down at the book, “Oh, I missed you. Did you miss me too? Come on now, we’ve got work to do!”

“Mummy!” The dark haired woman squeaked excitedly.

“Yes, Ontari?”

Ontari jutted out her chin and waved her nose high in the air, her lips pulled tightly into a frightening snarl, “I.. smell.. children!” She swiveled proudly back at her mother with a delighted gleam in her eye.

The three teens, still pressed together behind the low counter, looked at each other with wide panic-filled eyes at the words, and Aden clasped his hands over his mouth to suppress a terrified squeak.

“Sick ‘em!” growled Nia, and Ontari started circling the room in a roving shuffle, searching. “It’s a little boy..” *sniffs* “eleven.. maybe twelve.. and a half!”

The large man now crowded in right behind Ontari, bouncing excitedly. “Ohh, I want to play with him! Come, little children..” he started to hum, and took a rhythmic breath, “I’ll take thee away-” before Nia slapped a hand over his mouth and hissed sharply, “Roan! Be quiet, you idiot!”

An instant later, Nia dropped her hand and her voice in the same beat, calling out sweetly, “Come out my dear. _We_ won’t harm thee.”

Roan fought back a fit of giggles, pressing forward. “Come out little one. We _love_ children.”

Ontari, her dark eyes wild with the chase, halted in her tracks and suddenly slapped an open palm on the dusty countertop above them with a thwack; before Lexa could scramble to pull him back, Aden popped up on his feet with a squeak. The blonde boy and the three superannuated witches regarded each other for a long, tense moment.

“I thought thou would never come, my dears.” Aden nodded his head towards them, his even voice somehow not betraying a hint of the way his hands were shaking at his sides. Lexa started to reach out towards him again, but felt Clarke pull her back with a soft hand to her shoulder, catching her eyes and shaking her head silently. She quickly pressed a finger to Lexa’s lips and quirked her head over to where the Zippo lighter had been dropped on the ground next to them, then panned her eyes up to the spigot of the modern sprinkler system hanging directly above their heads. Lexa followed the trail before dropping to meet her gaze and nodded sharply once, in understanding. She silently slid her hand over to cover the lighter and then raised it to tap Aden twice on his knee. He remained standing fixed in place but stamped his heel, once.

Hovering above them, Nia continued to coo at the boy in front of her, “Greetings, little one.”

Aden, now standing tall, lifted his chin and set upon the Ice Queen with a level gaze. “Greetings, sister. ‘Twas I who lit the candle and brought you back.”

Nia’s eyes went wide at that. “Imagine..” She side-eyed the other two witches flanking her, their faces all twisting into curious scowls. “Such a pretty little.. demon.”

Ontari leered closer and Aden took a reflexive step back as she approached, his step stuttering briefly before circling a path backwards and leading her away from the counter. “Look at him. And he’s so well fed! Plump!” She pressed forward and poked him in the side; this time he let out a semi-offended squawk. “Shish-ka-baby!” she crowed as Aden bumped straight back into the towering figure of the Ice Queen, his eyes popping wide.

Nia brushed Ontari to the side with a wave of her hand and pressed closer, threading a long arm around Aden’s shoulders, expertly directing him towards the center of the room as she leaned in with a conspiratorial tone, “Tell me, dumpling, what is the year?”

“1993!” he said seriously, as he was pulled along by the imposing woman. “Clinton is President. And.. Beanie Babies are all the rage?” She stopped suddenly to shove him down, his slight body tripping back to sit heavily on a rough wooden chair. The witches circled around, looming tall as they crowded in above him.

“I must hear more about these.. little babies of yours.” Nia cooed at him, before declaring loudly, “Children, it seems we have been gone 300 years!”

Closing in, Ontari ran an overly-affectionate finger down Aden’s cheek, as he eyed her warily. “Oh, Mummy, how time flies..”

From the other side, Roan piped in, “..when you’re dead!”

The three witches simultaneously tossed their heads back in raucous laughter and, after a beat, Aden joined them from his seat, managing to laugh even louder than the rest. They all continued their cackling for just long enough to make it sound horribly unnatural, before Aden sighed amusedly as he slapped his knee and started to rise from his seat. “Well, it’s been great fun, ladies, but I really should be going.”

In an instant, Nia shot her hand down and pressed his shoulder back, hard. “Oh, _do_ stay for supper..”

Roan sneered over from his other side as Aden scowled back, petulant. “I’m not hungry." 

Ontari crowded in again. “Oh, but _we_ are..” she said in a truly hideous sing-song.

Aden huffed, most likely at their unfunny dialog, and tried to get back to his feet once again, his face now pinched together in a full scowl. The three witches, however, kept him clutched tight in their hands, pinning him roughly to the chair. He started to earnestly struggle in their grip, his face furious.   

“Hey!” Lexa shouted as she leapt to her feet from the space behind the counter, her green eyes blazing bright under the mask of black streaked across her face. “Let go of my little brother!”

The three witches turned to face the source of the  interruption, their incredulous looks quickly turning dark.

“Roast her, Mummy!” shrieked Ontari.

“No, Mummy, let me! Let _me_ play with her!” Roan’s voice was low and menacing now, and he sized her up, head to toe.

Lexa stood tall and pulled the sword from her hip, slashing it dangerously as she shouted out a war cry, the blade whooshing furiously through the still air of the dusty room. Roan looked startled for only a moment but then quickly charged in, ducking and weaving around the blade as she waved it desperately in front of her. She struck him fully, once, in his broad shoulder, but the strike harmlessly bounced off and he abruptly stopped in his tracks to regard her curiously. A beat later, his face split wide with a truly alarming grin and Lexa recoiled. _Oh, shit_.

In a flash, he pressed forward with another quick lunge to shove her back, his massive hands connecting with her shoulders. She slid backwards and lost her balance at the sudden shift in momentum, tumbling down on one knee, panting heavily. As Roan lorded over her with his huge frame, growling, Lexa gripped the sword handle tightly and thrust it up behind behind her with as much force as she could muster.

Instead of running him through, the flimsy plastic sword caught in the straps of his leather jerkin and it snapped instantly in two; he stilled, blinking slowly in confusion. In the brief moment his pause allowed her, she spun to her feet and reared her arm back, before smashing his nose with the flattest part of the hilt, managing just enough force to snap his head back. He howled.

“Enough!” Nia screamed, and snapped her fingers sharply, summoning a bright green burst of electric current across her hands and striking Lexa square in the chest; she dropped to the floor with a yelp. Roan and Ontari both cackled at the sight.

Looming over her, Nia quickly zapped Lexa again and slid her prone body across the floor roughly. “You!” *zap* “There!” she pointed one crooked finger at the far wall and Lexa went flying into it face first, landing heavily with a groan. _Oh, that was going to smart._

“I haven’t lost my touch, children!” Nia hooted, and Aden, now tangled in Roan’s massive arms, cried out to her desperately, “Lexa!”

Crowding right behind her, Nia hit Lexa again and spun her around, mockingly singing, “Hello..  goodbye!” as she opened her palms and channeled the full force of the electric current right to Lexa’s gut, tearing a scream from her throat as she was suspended high in the air by the crackling charge.  

In the midst of all the chaos, Clarke had grabbed the heavy witches’ broom from its display along the overhead beam, choking her hands along the handle like a bat. “Ontari!” she shouted, dashing up behind her.

“Why, hello..” said the witch, and Clarke clocked her straight in the head; the witch was knocked to the floor and Clarke heaved the broom after her with a clatter.

Releasing his hold on the boy, Roan lunged after Clarke, but she quickly darting to the side, snatching a heavy iron frying pan from a hook on the wall, and spinning deftly on her toes to bash Roan straight in the forehead with a resonating clang. He dropped to the ground with a thud.

His sister still suspended in the air by the crackling bolts emitting from Nia’s hands, Aden rushed over the second he was let loose and shrieked, “You leave her alone!” as he smacked the tall woman with  his bag of candy, unreasonably heavy with all those full-sized bars. Lexa dropped to the floor in a heap as Nia snarled loudly and snatched at Aden in her claw-like hands instead.

Suddenly, the large black cat leapt from above and landed with a hiss on the Ice Queen’s broad shoulders, snarling and ripping into the fabric of her gown. With a furious howl, she released her hold on the boy and screeched, “Get him! Get this beast off of me!”

Aden rushed over to where Lexa was sprawled on the floor, crouching down and grabbing her face with his hands. “Lex!” he hissed, desperate. She blinked up at him, woozy, and he yanked her up by the front of her blouse, as Clarke appeared at her side to grab her by the shoulders and steady her feet, draping Lexa’s limp arm around her shoulders.

After two stuttering steps toward the door, Lexa quickly found her bearings and pulled back, knees wobbling only slightly as she planted her feet and shoved the two of them forward. “Get him out of here, go!” she hissed as Clarke looked pleadingly back at her for a beat, before nodding and pulling Aden out the door to safety.

Though the wild cat continued to spit and tear at Nia’s face, she finally ripped him off and flung him forcefully across the room. “My beautiful face! I’m going to get scars! Get them!” she cried, furious, as as she turned toward the door and the other witches rushed in behind her.

In a flash, Lexa leapt up on the countertop, landing heavily with her boots and standing to her full height as she shouted over the din.

“Hey!” she roared, and they all stopped short to peer up at her. “You've messed with the great and powerful Lex! Now you must suffer the consequences! I'm going to summon the burning rain of death!”

The witches all exchanged startled glances. “The burning.. the burning rain of death?

Lexa thrust her hand in the air and flicked the lighter, the flame sputtering to life and her face drawn in a vicious snarl.

They gasped in unison. “Look, she makes fire in her hand!” Nia cried.

Lexa raised the lighter to touch the spigot of the sprinkler, spreading her arms out wide and screaming, “I am the commander of the flame! I am the commander of death!” as it sputtered to life. 

Lexa felt the black around her eyes start to streak down her cheeks as the water cascaded over her face; she bared her teeth in a deadly snarl as the full force of the spray rained down in the room, extinguishing the candles and pitching it into darkness.

“It's the burning rain of death! Come, you fools!” shrieked Nia as the witches all spun around the room, flailing their arms in panic before the three figures ducked under an overhanging beam, cowering. Lexa jumped quickly down from the countertop, victorious, but her feet fell out from under her with the force of her momentum and she slid to the floor with a thud. She groaned. 

Out of nowhere, the black cat landed heavily on her chest, knocking her flat on her back. Startled, she gawked up at him with wide eyes. _What the fuck?_

For a long moment, Lexa simply stares.

“Nice going, Lex,” said the cat in a derisive tone. 

“You can talk.” Lexa just keeps staring.

“Eh, no kidding, now get the spell book!”

Again, Lexa simply stares, still giving away nothing.

He hissed loudly and smacked her abruptly in the face with his paw. “Come on, move it!”

Blinking away her confusion, she lept up from the floor and dashed over to the large glass case, looking around searchingly before grabbing a large candelabra off the floor and bringing it down heavily to smash the glass.

“My booooook!” Nia screeched, but the others grappled her arms and held her back, screaming.

Lexa shoved the broken glass shards away and grabbed the large leather volume in her hands, before tucking it under her arm and dashing out of the house, the witches still wailing and shouting after her. She tumbled down the stairs and looked around desperately.

“Lex!” Clarke yelled from a distance down the dark path at the edge of the woods, “over here, come on!” and Lexa took off at a sprint to dash after them, her heart pounding. Glancing back over her shoulder for a moment, she was just in time to see the witches piling out of the house after them before the sharp wail of sirens and bright flashing of lights pierced through the darkness, drowning out their screams. She turned away and kept running down the dark path.

Skittering to a stop in front of set of rusty iron gates, Lexa doubled over, panting. Clarke jogged back to her and leaned down to rub a soothing circle on her back, her eyes roving over her face in concern.

“I’m.. I’m ok,” she managed to huff after a long minute, and peered up at her with a small smile that she hoped came across as more reassuring than a grimace. Clarke smiled back affectionately and helped her up; they stood side by side, Lexa clutching the spellbook close to her chest with one arm as she reached out for Aden with the other, tousling his hair. He pawed her hand away, but not without squeezing it once in return.

The chilly wind threaded through the twisted iron gates and rustled the tangle of dead ivy that covered it, as Lexa realized just where they had stopped. _Great, this day just gets better._   

“This is a graveyard,” she groaned.

Suddenly, the black cat appeared in front of them again and blinked his huge yellow eyes, “It’s hallowed ground. Witches can’t set foot here,” as if such a thing was obvious, or in any way, remotely normal. Clarke and Aden peered down at him with wide, startled eyes.

“Come on!” said the cat, darting through the space between the gate, as if following a talking cat into a graveyard, at night, was at all a good decision. Lexa just shrugged. “He, uh, he talks,” she said.

“Huh.” said Clarke.

“Cool!” said Aden, as he pushing open the rusty gate.

The dark silhouettes of dead trees were stark against the night sky as they stepped around cracked headstones and gnarled roots as the three teens moved deeper into the graveyard. Lexa clutched the book tighter, and tried her best to keep her footing in the inky blackness.

“Over here. I want to show you something!” called the cat, and they come to a sudden stop as the chilly wind picked up again and swirled piles dead leaves in haunting spirals around the graves. Lexa realized her silk shirt was nearly soaked through and she couldn’t suppress a shiver. Clarke grabbed for her free hand, and the sense of warmth started creeping back in.  

“Let me give you an idea of exactly what we’re dealing with,” the cat stated as he jumped up to perch on the edge of a large headstone, stark and white and capped with the rough-hewn image of a skull and crossbones.

Lexa peered over. “Titus Titterson,” she read. “Lost soul.”

“Titus Titterson was Niafred’s lover. But she found him sporting with another, so she _poisoned_ him, and sewed his mouth shut with a dull needle, so he couldn’t tell her secrets even in death. Nia always was the jealous type.”

Clarke’s mouth dropped open, as it dawned on her. “You’re Bellamy Binx!”

“Yes.” said the cat, simply.  

“So the legends _are_ true,” she said in wonder, before sharing a loaded look with Lexa, who could only make an appalled face. _What the fuck?_  

“Come along,” called Bellamy, hopping down to the ground and bounding away. “I want to show you something else!” They could do little more than follow his lead, stopping after only a moment in front of another headstone, this one small and plain and weathered with age.      

“My sister’s grave,” said Bellamy, and he started talking, his voice rough and low. _“It was 1693, and I let my little sister, Octavia, out of sight for barely a moment when she had fled into the woods..”_

As if the weirdness of the evening caught up with her all at once, Lexa found herself tuning out the long explanation, staring straight ahead unblinkingly until Clarke gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

 _“..they were conjuring.. I rushed after her.. watched as she was taken from me.. twisted my bones with a spell.. summoned the elders.. ungodly book..”_  

Clarke looked over and gave her a shy smile. Lexa squeezed back.

_“..and then I finally figured out what to do with my immortal life. When Nia and her children returned, I would be here to stop them. So for three centuries on All Hallow’s night, I guarded the house, knowing eventually some airhead virgin would light that candle-”_

Aden threw his hands up in a huff. “Hey look I’m sorry, ok? I thought it was just a bunch of hocus pocus!” he tried to explain, exasperated.  

“Clearly not.” said Clarke, her eyebrows shooting up. Aden stuck his tongue out rudely at the cat and stalked off. Bellamy flicked his tail in annoyance, but mercifully stopped talking.

“It’s ok, bud! It’s totally not the end of the world! Probably?” Lexa called after him. He just scowled back at her.  

Lexa let out a heavy sigh. “So, now what?”

“Well, the legend says the candle only brings them back for one Halloween night, and, assuming the spell for that child-soul stealing potion is in that book,” Clarke gestured to Lexa with their joined hands, “it seems clear we have to keep it from them.”

Lexa glanced down at the book, briefly, and the eyeball embedded in the clasp cracked open at the attention and peered back up at her; she squawked in alarm and dropped the book unceremoniously on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Eww, it looked at me!” she shuddered and Clarke turned to face her. 

Much to Lexa’s surprise, Clarke erupted in a sudden fit of giggles. “You’re a mess,” she laughed as she reached up to untie the damp bandana still holding her hair in place, and she felt the cloth pulling gently at her skin as Clarke tilted her chin up and wiped the dark streaks from her cheeks.

“Thanks,” Lexa muttered shyly, when she was finished, before stuffing the dirty bandana in her back pocket.

Lexa’s hair fell loose around her shoulders, braids long since untangled, and Clarke tugged a stray curl affectionately before she reached for her hand again and pulled her close. They slumped down against a pair of gravestones and sat, shoulder to shoulder as Clarke let out a heavy sigh and they both stared off into the mist.

“So. Magic is real.” Clarke stated evenly.

“Yep,” said Lexa, as she popped the ‘p’ at the end of the word with a puff of air, watching the tiny cloud dissipate into the cold night.

“We’re being chased by witches.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded.

“And there is a talking cat.. boy.. thing.. prowling around over there.”

“Oh my god!” whispered Lexa, as she suddenly sat up straighter.

“What?” asked Clarke, gripping her forearm, slightly alarmed.

“I really owe Mrs. Patterson an apology,” said Lexa, slumping back down.

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about in all this?”

“I thought she was crazy.” Lexa almost sounded wistful.

“Jesus, Lexa,” Clarke shook her head, “you’re just too sweet,” as she leaned in close and gave her a lingering kiss to her cheek. Lexa glanced back over, the corners of her lips curling up with a small smile. Her cheeks grew hot and she thought she almost couldn’t feel the cold at all as her eyes dropped to Clarke's pretty pink lips, and watched the other girl's tongue dart out to wet them, once, their bodies pressing closer. She sucked in a quick breath and- 

As usual, their peaceful moment was suddenly interrupted, as a loud crash of cackling erupted in the sky above them, the three witches swooping down dangerously before hovering in place. Nia, perched high on her broomstick, glared down at them menacingly. The two girls lept to their feet in alarm, and when Lexa called out for Aden, he seemed to decide imminent terror overrode sulking, at least for the moment, and dashed back over.

Nia called down sweetly, “Book! Come to Mommy!” and the three teens looked on as the large leather volume blinked open its eye once again and began floating up in the air. With a screech, Bellamy leapt on the cover and slammed it back down to the ground with the weight of his body. “Afraid not!” he hissed.

“Bellamy Binx, thou mangy feline. Still alive?” taunted Nia.

“And waiting for you!” Bellamy spat back.

Nia clutched her hands together dramatically, “Oh! Thou hast waited in vain. And thou will fail to save thy friends, just as thou failed to save thy sister!” as she screamed and swooped down towards the furious cat. The angry pair let out matching caterwauls, and Lexa crouched down to snatch the book back up from the ground before it could make further attempts at escape. The three teens retreated further into the graveyard as Nia’s furious screams echoed after them. After only a moment, Bellamy came bounding at their heels.

“They can’t touch us here, right?” squeaked Aden, backing up against a moss-covered mausoleum and bracing himself against it. Clarke plucked the book from Lexa’s shaking hands and pulled it tight to her chest.

Bellamy shook his head in the negative, but it was only a second more before he proved himself to be a cat-shaped buzzkill once again. “Well, they can’t,” he gestured his whiskers down to the grave at their feet. 

“I don’t like the way you said that,” said Lexa, her eyes narrowing.

Nia zoomed in above them, just out of reach, as she laughed wickedly and began reciting the words to a spell. “Unfaithful lover long since dead. Deep asleep in thy wormy bed. Wiggle thy toes, open thine eyes, twist thy fingers toward the sky. Life is sweet, be not shy. On thy feet. So sayeth I!” 

The gravestone to their right began to rattle and the ground rolled, and the three teens grasped desperately on to each other as the earth at their feet rose up as a still wind kicked up around them. The dark graveyard fell into a sudden, eerie silence, before a hand broke through the ground with a crack and the splintering of wood. The figure of a man began to clamber from the grave, striking a truly hideous figure, a bald head and sunken, hollow cheeks silhouetted in the moonlight. The decaying zombie shook the dirt from his tattered robes and lurched in their direction with a stumbling gait.

“Mmmppmmhm!” he yelled, and the three teens all glanced at each other in horror, before they screamed in unison, and took off like a shot, cat at their heels. Lexa glanced back over her shoulder only long enough to see the man, Titus, look back to his own headstone and continue to mutter something incomprehensible.

“Catch those children!” Nia screamed at him, and he appeared to roll his eyes, but turned to lumber after them.

Dashing through the graveyard, they followed the trail of the leaping cat until he darted down through a dark doorway, half hidden with dead leaves and tangled vines. They all crashed through the opening after him, tumbling down, before skidding to a halt at the bottom of the dark tunnel in a tangle of limbs. The light was dim and the air was thick and musty, wild tangles of tree roots hanging down from the ceiling as the sound of dripping water echoed in the cavernous space.

“What is this place, Bellamy?” Clarke asked.

“It’s the old Salem crypt,” he replied. “It connects to the sewer and up to the street.”

“Charming,” said Aden.

“Relax, I’ve hunted mice down here for years, it’s perfectly safe,” retorted Bellamy, flicking his tail and sauntering away.

“Ugh,” said Lexa, and Clarke met her eyes in the dim light, and pulled a face. _Gross._

They trailed along after him as he bounced easily through the twisting tunnels, stumbling their way in the dark for what seemed like ages as the dangling roots tugged at their clothes and impeded their progress. Not a moment too soon, Bellamy skidded to a halt before darting up a ladder, waiting with an impatient growl for Lexa to climb up after him and lift the manhole cover at the top. Using her shoulder as leverage, she pushed the heavy covering up but sputtered indignantly as Bellamy smacked her straight in the face with his tail as he skittered out onto the street before she could open it all the way. She threw a dirty look in his direction, but her mouth dropped open as she glanced up to see a city bus bear down on them at full speed. She cried, “Bellamy, look out!” before she ducked, letting the heavy cover slam back down as the bus honked loudly and thundered over them.

Lexa looked down at the others with wide eyes for a long, tense moment, before scrambling back up and popping open the manhole cover, tossing it to the side as they all clambered out. The scene was so tragic.

“Oh my god,” whimpered Clarke, as they all looked on, sadly.

“Noooo!” cried Aden, looking genuinely distraught. “I liked that stupid cat.”  

“You did? I mean of course you did,” said Lexa, patting his head, “very sad.”

Clarke shot a mildly disapproving glare at her and she felt appropriately scolded, opening her mouth to come up with something much more empathetic, but when she looked back down at Bellamy’s mangled, crushed body, it started to inflate; after only a moment the cat had returned completely to normal and he bounced up off the pavement with a full body shake.

“I hate it when that happens!” he muttered. And then, taking in all of their shocked faces, “I told you, I can’t die.”

“Huh.” said Lexa.

“Oh, thank goodness!” sighed Clarke, her face lighting up with happy relief. But in an instant, Bellamy had turned on her, angrily.

“No, you don’t understand!” he almost shouted, his hackles raised, “she was my sister, and my responsibility. Because of me, Octavia’s life was stolen, and everyone I ever loved is dead. People who trusted me!” he paused dramatically, his low voice nearly cracking as it welled with untold depths of emotion, “Nia’s spell of immortality is a curse.”

He turned away and stared off tormentedly into the distance.

“Ooookay,” said Aden.

“God, he’s a little intense, don’t you think?” whispered Lexa, out of the side of her mouth.

“I don’t have many other immortal talking housepets to compare him to,” Clarke shook her head, “but yeah, kinda.”

“Glad you’re ok, there, cat,” said Lexa, giving him a sporting thumbs-up. He flicked his tail at her dismissively and sauntered away down the road, before sitting down in a huff and licking his paw.

The three teens all side-eyed each other. _Well, that was awkward._

Lexa made an exasperated face as she turned toward Clarke and plucked the heavy book from the other girl’s hands, holding it up in front of her as if it would give them some inspiration. The eyeball stared back at her disapprovingly. She frowned. “Ok, graveyard is out, evil book is still evil, witches still hunting us, plus one zombie and one.. extremely moody housecat. So, what now?”  

“I hate to say it but I think we need to find my parents,” sighed Clarke. “They’re the only ones who might be able to help.”

“Right,” said Lexa, swallowing thickly, “who’s up for a party?”


	3. Give him fur black as black

The imposing city hall was thrumming with the pulse of bodies and music, and as Clarke pulled Lexa by the hand through the dense crowd streaming through the front doors, Aden paused to scoop up the black cat in his arms before trailing closely behind them. The Salem town Halloween party was in full swing as they pushed forward into the great hall, and the elaborately-decorated ballroom was packed with a sea of people, all dressed head to toe in a wide array of festive costumes. Bypassing a wigged George Washington swinging a drink before weaving around a cowboy shooting guns in the air, Lexa caught Aden’s attention and they both rolled their eyes at the over-the-top display. They really did take Halloween _way_ too seriously in this strange town.

“I don’t know what my parents are wearing, sorry!” shouted Clarke, over the din of dancing figures and the reverberating blast of the jazz band on the stage to their right. Strobe lights bathed the room in a flashing purple glow as a top-hatted skeleton grasped the microphone and started crooning a jazzy version of _Witchcraft_ out over the excited crowd. The partygoers swarmed the dancefloor and Lexa could only nod back at her, grasping her hand tighter and following her through the throng; she was forced to stutter her steps, once, to avoid crashing into a drunken mummy, swaying dangerously on his feet.

Clarke suddenly stopped short, startled by a tall man in a vampire costume. “Oh! Kane!”

“Hello, Clarke,” said the man, turning to her face her, “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” Then, noticing Lexa, his face broke out in an unnervingly bright fanged smile. “Oh, my goodness. Who must this charming young blood donor be?”

Lexa simply stared back.

Clarke grabbed his sleeve with her free hand, and pulled him close. “Kane! Something terrible happened. Where’s my mom?” Concern flashing across his face, he jerked his head in the direction of the stage and turned to lead them through the crowd.

“Stepfather,” muttered Clarke in explanation as she pulled Lexa along, “kind of useless in a crisis.”

Clarke again stopped short, but this time her voice rose above the racket as she squeaked out, alarmed, “Mom!?”

A woman sporting a high blonde ponytail and tight leather bustier had been frozen in an enthusiastic vogue pose in the moments before she spun around to face her daughter, the pointed cone of her bra nearly knocking into Lexa.

“Mom? What are you supposed to be?” Clarke had a slightly horrified look on her face.

“Madonna. Well, you know,” the woman gestured down her body and emphasized the bra, “obviously.”

“Abby,” said Kane, crowding behind her, “Clarke has something to tell you.”

Abby, now taking her daughter in fully, looked questioningly from her face over to Lexa, before settling on the space between them with a frown. As if burned, Clarke dropped Lexa’s hand and took a small step backwards. _Oh._

Lexa schooled her face into a neutral expression and clutched the book tighter, wrapping both arms around it and holding it against her chest. Aden pressed in close to her other side, and she glanced down in time to see Bellamy flick his ears in annoyance, his large yellow eyes shining fluorescent in the strobe lights.

Clarke shifted in place and wrung her hands in front of her, before seeming to steel herself and tilting up her chin to meet her mother’s concerned gaze. She took a deep breath, her voice tight and high, “This cat here, Bellamy, right? He can talk. This is Lexa, and her little brother,” she gestured over to Aden, who scowled, slightly, “llit the black flame candle. The Azgeda witches are back from the dead and they're after us. We need help!”

Abby exchanged an incredulous look with Kane. “How much candy have you had, honey?” she asked, lifting her hand to feel Clarke’s forehead.

“Mom, they're real witches, they can fly, and they're gonna eat all the kids in Salem!” Clarke’s voice was even higher now, her arms waving, “They're real!”

“I think you’re running a fever, Clarke.” Abby plucked the knit hat off her daughter’s head and smoothed down her hair with a _tisk_ ; Clarke opened her mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again when her mother raised a brow and pursed her lips into a thin line. Clarke’s hands dropped limply to her sides, and she bit down on her lips, swallowing thickly.

Abby’s eyes roved from her daughter’s tight face to Lexa and Aden and the cat, all standing awkwardly in a line, then leveled a serious look at Kane. He shot her a tight smile, his eyes dark.

“Where is Finn, darling?” asked Abby, turning back to Clarke. “I saw him earlier, he can take you home.”

“No, Mom, just listen to me!” Clarke pleaded, grabbing at her hand. “This is serious!”

“Such a helpful, nice boy,” Abby ignored her and looked around the ballroom, searchingly.

“No, Mom, he’s really not. And we aren’t togeth-”

“Finn!” Abby called out, waving him over. _Oh, shit._ Lexa’s eyes widened in realization and she couldn’t stop herself taking a reflexive step back, thinking maybe she could blend into the crowd before this exchange went even more sideways, but it was too late. 

Clarke yanked her mother’s hand down out of the air and they fell into hushed whispers as Finn sauntered over to where they stood. He took one look at Lexa and threw his head back in a cackle, the stupid wave of his hair falling down around his stupid face in curtains as his entire body shook with laughter. When he finally straightened up, he produced a comb out of the rolled up sleeve of his tight white t-shirt and slicked it back in place. The greaser look of his T-Bird costume restored, he leered over at Lexa with a delighted grin.

“What are you supposed to be, Tragic Tiff? Some kind of homeless librarian?” The football-playing lugs now crowded in behind him were, unsurprisingly, outfitted as a motorcycle gang, and they hooted loudly at his words as they high-fived and slapped him on the back. “Good one, Finn,” said the big blonde one.

Lexa glanced down at her scuffed boots and ripped jeans, and thought maybe the high-waisted belt around her middle really _was_ the only thing holding the thin fabric her silk shirt together. She knew she looked a mess, but still, Finn was some epic type of entitled asshole, and she ardently wished she still had her plastic sword just so she could threaten him a little. Instead, she ignored his taunts and simply stared straight ahead into the crowd.

At her side, she saw Aden shift forward slightly as he shot Finn the nastiest glare a twelve year old could possibly muster, and he squeezed Bellamy so tight that the angry cat squawked indignantly. Finn laughed again at the sorry state of their rag-tag group, but as he opened his mouth to jape at them again, Abby cut in.

“Finn, honey, my daughter isn’t feeling well. Will you be a gentleman and take her home?”

Instantly amping his charm up to maximum sparkle, he turned his attention towards the older woman with an easy grin. “Of course, Mayor Griffin, anything for Clarke.”

Lexa’s eyes tracked Abby’s face as she gave him a pleased smile and started to walk away; the crowd parting around her, reverently, until she paused to greet a knight in a full plate armor, before falling into light-hearted conversation with a man-eating crocodile, laughing and smiling animatedly. Finn snaked his arm around Clarke’s shoulder, and, as he started to steer her away in Abby’s wake, he shot Lexa an incredibly smug look. Clarke seemed to slump her head down, and didn’t chance a look back.  

Lexa let out a slow, heavy sigh and grit her teeth in frustration, her knuckles turning white as she squeezed the book in a death-grip, and it blinked angrily up at her, once. Before she could dwell too long on the hard, painful lump that had suddenly taken root in her throat, Aden yanked on her sleeve in alarm and pointed hurriedly over the dancing crowd. As Lexa followed his gesture with a sense of rising panic, she spotted all three of the Azgeda witches and one bald, decaying zombie shoving their way through the clueless crowd.   

When Nia caught Lexa’s eyes over the undulating dancers, she started shouting and flailing wildly; the adrenaline spiked and Lexa nodded sharply at Aden and Bellamy, the cat hopping down to the floor and taking off like a shot, Aden hot on his heels. Veering off in the opposite direction, Lexa waved the book in the air with one hand and elbowed her way through the crowd with the other, aiming for the large double doors she had spotted at the back of the hall. She didn’t chance a glance back at the crowd, but felt almost certain that Nia would follow.

As she burst out the doors onto the dimly lit street, she looked desperately up and down the empty road, hesitating for only a moment before she took off running at a full sprint. Cutting into the first alley on her right, the pungent smell of salty fish hit her instantly; she glanced up to take in the large Worldwide Seafood sign plastered across the building at the far end. _Lucky_.

In an instant, she clambered up to the top of a large dumpster, hauling herself up to press flat against the the roof of the low building, just as the witches came careening up the street in a ruckus of shouting and fury. Heart pounding in her ears, she held her breath as she spied the three menacing figures stopped short in the alley opening, Ontari swinging her head around searchingly with her nose stuck straight up in the air. The witch looked probingly around the alley for a long, tense moment, and Lexa ducked her head and pressed herself down even further. The book clutched in her hand looked over at her, in silent judgement.

“Come along, you fool!” she heard Nia call and after a beat, she heard the shuffling steps of Ontari following after. Lexa let out a heavy sigh of relief, and stuck her tongue out at the book.  

Barely having time to catch her breath, a moment later she heard a muffled shout and the crash of splintering wood from the opening of the restaurant alley; she peered down to find Clarke muttering furiously as she wound back to swing another sharp kick at an old crate. “They never listen to me!”

In a panic, Lexa snatched up the book and hopped down to the ground in two quick jumps, grabbing Clarke roughly around the waist and pulling her behind the dumpster, pressing her to the wall and silencing her with a firm hand clamped over her mouth.

“Quiet!” she hissed at the startled girl, “What are you doing?!”

Clarke stiffened in her arms and simply stared at her, her eyes rimmed with red and growing wide in shock, as if she had seen some kind of ghost. Instantly filled with dread, Lexa glanced wildly behind her, wondering what other unworldly apparition was chasing them _now_.

Seeing nothing, she turned back to Clarke and dropped her hand. “What’s wrong?”

Clarke’s voice came out reedy and cracked, “I thought you left. I thought I’d ruined _everything._ ”

“What?” Lexa was confused, but quickly shook her head. “No..  just had a little hostile witch situation to deal with,” and then, when Clarke still didn’t seem convinced, “trying to avoid mass panic at your fancy Halloween party?”

As if on cue, the clattering sound of the three witches stalking back down the street caused Lexa to stiffen, and she pressed a finger to Clarke’s lips, pulling her down to hide behind the large dumpster with a firm tug. Crouching beside her, Clarke pressed her body in close as they stared at each other in alarm, the angry voices echoing loudly down the alleyway.

“Children, All Hallow's Eve has become a disgusting night of frolic, where people wear costumes and run amok!” Nia cried.

“Amok!” said Roan, and then, the shuffle of dancing feet. “Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok!” he sang.

They heard a loud smack and a low groan before he went silent, and Nia continued, “We will end them all, and we will take what is rightfully ours! Once I get back my precious book!”

The others seemed to murmur in agreement before Nia cut them off, sharply. “Come on you idiots, they can’t have gone far!” They heard shuffle of moving feet fade into the distance and then, blissful silence. Lexa huffed out again in shaky relief and stood, offering Clarke a hand up, but when she turned to face the other girl, she was slightly taken aback by the heartbroken look plastered across Clarke’s face.

“Now what happened?” Lexa asked, concerned.

Clarke dropped her hands and slumped back against the wall. “Of course my mother didn’t believe me, and then tried to send me home with Finn, who _still_ doesn’t believe we broke up, and then I finally managed to ditch him by the drinks table, but turned around and you weren’t there, and I thought-”

Lexa puffed out a small laugh at her rambling, “Ok, maybe dealing with your mother _is_ more terrifying than undead ancient evil bent on destroying the world.”

Clarke scrunched up her face and seemed to laugh-cry at her terrible joke. “I’m so sorry,” she said, lowly.

“For what?”

“This is all my fault,” Clarke’s voice was still shaking, “ _I_ asked Aden to bring you out, _I_ wanted to go to the old house, none of this would have happened if I didn’t just-”

“You what?” said Lexa, confused for a moment, before it clicked into place and she let out a chuckle. “Look, you don’t have to apologize. I’m glad we came.”

Clarke shook her head and stared at the ground, disbelieving.

Lexa reached up to gently cup her cheek, tipping her head up until their eyes met.

“Do you even know why I like you, Clarke?”

She sniffed again. “My amazing yabbos?” she gestured down and Lexa, in a truly legendary act of self control, didn’t let her gaze waver even a little bit from the other girl’s pretty, tear-stained face. She would be sure to mentally high-five herself later.

“Do you remember the first time we met? In class? You called me an asshole.”

“I did no- oh, I did,” Clarke said sadly, shaking her head, “I’m so sorry.”

“Clarke, stop apologizing. You weren’t wrong.. but I won that debate fair-and-square anyway.” Lexa smirked slightly. “The point is, you got my attention. And you’ve kept it.”

Clarke exhaled shakily, “I couldn’t even get my mom to listen, I couldn’t fix anything.”

“You’re still clever, and mouthy, and ridiculously brave,” and when Clarke tucked her chin down, shyly, Lexa coaxed it back up. “I mean, we’ve taken on witches and black magic an immortal housecat with an attitude problem and you, you haven’t so much as blinked.”

At that, Clarke slumped against the wall and out a wet-sounding laugh, sniffing in a shaky breath, “God, Lexa, you can’t just say stuff like that, like you walk into my life and suddenly normal doesn’t seem right and everything is upside down and I’m feeling these things I didn’t even know I could feel and I-”

“Shh.. we’re ok,” she soothed, stroking Clarke’s cheeks and smoothing away the crinkled frown above her eyebrow with a gentle finger. “And we have time to figure things out,” she felt Clarke wrap her arms tight around her, pulling her close, “assuming the world doesn’t end by morning.”

“Oh yeah, that.” Clarke deflated a bit more but clutched her tighter, burying her face in Lexa’s shoulder. Lexa smiled softly and tipped her head down to rest her cheek on the top of Clarke’s head, pressing her lips into the silky golden hair. The brisk night air swirled chill around them, but they both felt warm as they clung on to each other for a long, quiet moment.

The spell was broken as the sudden crash of wooden boxes reverberated down the alleyway, and Bellamy darted into view with Aden hot on his heels, laughing. Lexa turned her head to take in Aden’s unnervingly delighted face. _Oh, god._

“What happened with Titus? You didn’t leave all those poor people to be attacked, did you?”

His face split in a dazzling grin. “Of course not, Lex, but there may have been some dancing. And the creative use of zombie bait.”

Lexa could _only_ imagine how that had turned out.

“Your buddy Finn may have.. inadvertently volunteered,” Aden looked even more pleased, if that was even possible, and shared a conspiratorial grin with Bellamy. The pair looked in much higher spirits than earlier and Lexa internally balked at the thought of what level of carnage that would have enabled that kind of instant male bonding.

Bellamy flicked his whiskers in some version of a smirk, purring, “Eh, he’ll be fine.. eventually.”

Lexa looked back at them slightly alarmed, but to her surprise, Clarke threw her head back in a bright laugh. “Well, he does make high school seem like hell, a little taste of his own medicine will likely do him good.”

Hell. _Hell!_ Lexa blinked, slowly, and then her face lit up in a grin the instant it finally dawned on her. “I have an idea,” she said excitedly, “if those witches want hell, well, we’ll give them high school.”

\--

Lexa crouched low in the shadow of the school entrance, watching the wind blow leaves across the empty path, the only movement breaking up the blanketed hush of the dark night. It was getting late now and the streets had emptied, the eerie quiet of the moment building the unsettling atmosphere as she mentally ticked through their plan. She sat poised for action, every muscle tense. _This had to work._

A sudden streak of black broke through the stillness with a shrill howl, and Bellamy came bounding into view, yowling at full volume as he zig-zagged across the lawn and darted up the stairs. Only a moment after, she saw the three witches appear, running frantically down the street before skittering to a sudden halt. They nearly crashed together as they all stopped in their tracks to take in the large brick building, just as Ontari jutted her nose high in the air, appearing to catching a scent.

“What is this place?” Roan wondered, awed.

“It reeks of children!” Ontari sounded delighted.

Nia looked the building up and down with a sweep of her head, her eyes gleaming, “It is a prison for children!”

 _You don’t know the half of it_ , muttered Lexa to herself, as she jumped up from her hiding place as Bellamy landed next to her, and swung open the door; when Nia gave a terrible screech she knew that the Ice Queen had caught sight of her and the book she still had clutched in her hand. Bellamy darted in ahead of her before she ducked into the entryway and let the heavy door fall shut behind them with a _clang_.

Dashing to the left, Lexa skated past the school office, and paused for a beat to flash Aden a thumbs-up through the glass partition. He gave her a quick wink and slapped his hand down quickly over the intercom button, though Lexa couldn’t help but wince slightly at the loud buzz that suddenly reverberated through the deserted hallways. She ran only a few paces more before his voice began to booming from the speakers dotted throughout the school.

“Welcome to High School Hell!” Aden crooned, “Let’s meet our three contestants: Roan, Ontari, and Niafred Azgeda, back from the dead, but for how long?!” he paused dramatically for emphasis, “let’s find out!”

Sliding down the hall, Lexa pressed forward as Bellamy cut right. He had disappeared for only a moment before there was a loud hissed, and she heard Nia wail, “Get him!” as they followed the streaking black cat back past her again, their footsteps slapping the linoleum floor with resounding raps.  

She ducked quickly into an empty room as they rounded the corner, breathing heavily. Suddenly, a woman’s voice rang out.

_Hello, welcome to the library. Hallå, välkommen till biblioteket._

The three pursuing witches stopped short, looking around in confusion.

_I would Iike a book. Jag skulle vilja ha en bok._

Nia snarled and shoved the other two forward in the direction of the voice, piling together into a dark classroom, the desks and surfaces covered in unfinished art projects and unassembled clay sculptures.

_What kind of book would you like? Vilken typ av bok vill du ha?_

Pressing forward, Nia shouted as they crammed all at once into a large open doorway, chasing the sound; the moment they stopped in front of the tape recorder on the shelf, as the woman’s voice clicked out another Swedish phrase.

_I’m looking for a children’s book. Jag söker en barnbok._

The witches looked at it, stunned, and Clarke and Lexa took the opportunity to swing closed the heavy metal door and slammed down the latch, trapping the three witches in the depths of the walk-in pottery kiln. Clarke reached a firm hand over to pull down the power lever, and Lexa cranked the temperature dial up to full blast. The pair stood, watching, through the foggy glass hatch as the flames blazed orange and started rapidly licking up the walls, the witches flailing their arms and circling the room desperately, screaming in panic.

“We evaporate! We're vapor! We're dust! We cease to exist! Dost thou comprehend?” Nia lamented, as the flames encompassed the window, shielding the gruesome sight from view as the high whine of the blasting heat drowned out their hideous sniveling.

Aden slid into the room, Bellamy on his heels, just in time for the wailing to suddenly stop and a calm quiet to settle into the dark space, the orange flames seemed to flicker almost happily now as the teens all stared at each other with wide eyes.

“Take that, you old hags!” cheered Aden and Bellamy chirped excitedly, breaking the spell of the moment. Lexa smiled as she panned over to Clarke’s happy face, watching as she laughed, long and loud, in relief.

Finally, not tearing her eyes away or waiting one more second for interruption, Lexa pressed close to the other girl and slid a gentle hand across her cheek, glancing down at her pretty pink lips before pulling her forward and kissing her soundly. Clarke was startled, for only a beat, before she wrapped her arms tightly around Lexa and kissed her back, grinning.

“Ugh.” said Aden, and Lexa gave him the finger, not tearing her lips away as Clarke laughed into her mouth. It was the most ridiculous and exhilarating moment she ever could have imagined.

They held hands the entire walk home, feeling warm.  

\--

After directing Clarke up the stairs to her own room in search of a change of clothes, she washed the last remnants of the black streaks from her face and brushed her teeth in her parent’s empty suite. She didn’t allow herself think too hard about sleeping arrangements, swallowing down the nervous flutter she felt when she thought of the loaded looks the other girl had kept sending her on their journey home. Kicking off her boots and leaving them in the empty hall, she paused by Aden’s bedroom door and listened to him cooing at the cat, poking her head in and finding the two of them curled up on the pillow together in a happy pile of blonde hair and black fur.

Whispering sleepily, Aden murmured, “You know, Bellamy, I'll always take care of you, and my children will take care of you too, and their children after that, and their children after that. Forever and ever.”

Bellamy licked his face and settled in to curl around his head, purring contentedly. She smiled and shook her head, closing the door softly. That right there was a whole giant pile of weirdness, but it somehow it just made sense.

Back at her own room, she slipped inside and shut the door behind her, placing her palm against it and leaning her forehead heavily against the wood, sighing. “You’d think tucking my brother in bed with a 300 year old housepet would concern me more than it does. This has been just the _weirdest_ day.”  

She heard Clarke chuckle lowly from somewhere behind her. A pause, then, “You look tired, Lex.”

“I am,” she breathed out as she let her shoulders sag, feeling the weight of the day. “Thank you for staying,” she whispered, almost to herself.  

“I wanted to,” came the reply, and Clarke sounded closer.

Lexa turned and regarded the other girl, standing tall in the low light, directly in front of her now. Lexa let her head fall back tiredly against the door and mumbled, “We fought witches.”

Clarke stepped closer, directly in her line of sight. “You kissed me,” she pressed.

Lexa regarded her for a long moment with hooded eyes. “You kissed me back.”

Not bothering to hide the way she stared openly down at her lips, Clarke mumbled, “Might be scariest thing I’ve done today.”

Lexa smirked at her as she pushed off the door. “You always were a brave one.”

Clarke raised her eyebrow at the challenge and quirked the corners of her lips up, snaking her arm behind Lexa’s back and turning the lock on the door shut with a definitive _click_. She pressed her body closer and trailed her soft lips to nuzzle the soft skin just under Lexa’s jaw. “Can I do it again?” she exhaled into the silent room, and Lexa could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat thundering in her ears.

“Yes,” Lexa whispered, breathless. She felt almost desperate now. “Please.”

At last, Clarke pinned her to the door with the warm weight of her entire body and kissed her fiercely, threading her hands up into Lexa’s loose hair and holding her close. Lexa moaned into the kiss as she felt an instant bolt of heat lance through her entire body, settling low.

Her hands instinctively dropped to clutch at Clarke’s waist, and she gasped into the open cleft of the other girl’s lips as her hands palmed over an expanse of warm, bare skin. Though Lexa had informed Clarke that she could find spare pajamas in the chest of drawers beside her bed, she had clearly not bothered to. _Oh!_

Lexa pulled back to look at her and was mesmerized by the wild, hungry look in Clarke’s eyes. The soft glow from the fairy lights strung on her wall shimmered gently against her face, making her dark eyes gleam and she stood, transfixed at the sight. The way Clarke was looking at her caused her to feel like she was spiraling in place and only the heat of Clarke’s body pressed fully against her kept her grounded.

Clarke smiled at her, brightly, and her eyes dropped down to Lexa’s kiss-swollen lips with a satisfying hum; she leaned forward slightly and nipped playfully at the pillowy swell of her bottom lip, before immediately soothing the sting with the warm heat of her tongue. She dropped her hands to grasp the belt at Lexa’s waist, fumbling with the straps and pulling her forward in the same beat.

Lexa let herself be pulled along, and if she was overwhelmed with the rush of feeling, it was over in a moment. She quickly wrapped her arms around Clarke’s hips, sliding up and under the oversized sweater and taking in miles of warm soft skin with her fingertips, moaning quietly.

Clarke had managed to pry the straps and buckles open by the time the back of her knees hit the bed and she dropped it unceremoniously to the ground, before Lexa pushed her down and they spilled into bed in a fit of tangled limbs and giggles. When her shirt slipped from her shoulders, Lexa thought she really was right about the belt, but that was the last fully-conscious thought she had before Clarke tore the rest of the damaged silk open with a firm yank and enthusiastically tossed the scraps away.

Shimmying out of her jeans as Clarke’s hands roved over the bare skin of her arms, they broke out in another fit of giggles as one of Lexa’s feet got caught in the crumpled pant leg, and she nearly slammed Clarke in the nose as she tripped forward. She buried her face in the rough fabric of Clarke’s sweater to hide her embarrassment, but Clarke only laughed, brightly, and flipped them around. When Lexa’s bare back hit the smooth sheets, she looked up almost in wonder as Clarke settled high on her hips, pinning her in place.

Clarke caught Lexa’s eye and shot her wink as she pulled off the chunky sweater in one smooth motion, her blonde tresses tumbling free and cascading down her shoulders.  

Lexa immediately sat up, searching out Clarke’s lips again and sliding her hands firmly up and around the plane of Clarke’s bare back. She brushed her fingertips lightly against the clasp of her bra, shifting and fumbling in her excitement. When Clarke chuckled against her lips, Lexa quickly found her bearings, unsnapping it smoothly with a flick of her wrist and earning a surprised gasp. She smirked right back and Lexa thought the sharp nip she felt stinging her bottom lip was well worth it.

The world seemed to fall away when Clarke suddenly sat up and brushed down the loose straps of her bra, flinging it away somewhere behind her. This time, Lexa let her eyes freely drop to take in the glorious sight in front of her; she didn’t even care that Clarke laughed completely at her expense when here jaw openly dropped. _They were perfect._ Lexa decided that she was never leaving this room, this bed, this girl. This was heaven.

She gave her lips and her fingers free reign to take in the miles of Clarke’s warm skin, her mouth and her hands trailing greedy patterns across anything and everything she could reach. Her lips finally wrapped around a stiff nipple and Clarke’s hips ground down against her, as she tossed her head back and keened lowly. “Jesus, Lexa!”

Though she could have spent an eternity worshiping the smooth skin of Clarke’s breasts, the aching throb between her legs pressed her onward and she moved to flip them over with a sense of urgency. When Clarke landed on her back, her golden hair cascaded around her in the glowing light and she looked flushed from head to toe like some kind of vision.

“What do you like?” Lexa whispered, leaning in so her breath rushed hot against the shell of Clarke’s ear.

And Clarke just stilled for a moment, before groaning desperately. She grasped for Lexa’s hand and threaded it down, trailing over her soft, smooth stomach to dip under her underwear; Lexa brushed her hand away before pushing down past the soft curls to reach the heat between her legs. Clarke was soaked and panting and desperate, and Lexa was sure she had never felt so powerful or wanted. She sucked gently at the smooth skin of Clarke’s neck as she slid a soft finger down and around her clit, and then, at Clarke’s delirious “ _please_ ,” she pushed two fingers inside. Groaning at the feeling of tight warmth wrapped around her, she closed her eyes and gave Clarke a chance to adjust to the deep stretch. When the other girl began to claw desperately at her back and push her hips off the bed, Lexa leaned in to kiss her again and licked tenderly into her mouth as she started to move her hips and her fingers.

After what seemed like only a moment, she brushed her thumb gently over Clarke’s slick clit and felt the other girl’s breathing stutter, and suddenly stop; Lexa pulled away to peer down at her face. She looked gorgeous, wrecked, and Clarke tossed her head back with a desperate keen, choking out a soft “Lexa!” as she came around her fingers, pulsing hot and regular as she jolted in pleasure; Lexa stilled, reveling in the closeness as she came down. Clarke squirmed as she pulled her fingers out, gently, and Lexa felt the ache between her legs bolt through her again. She watched with lidded eyes as Clarke grasped her hand and pulled it up, wrapping her own mouth around Lexa’s slick fingers, sucking lightly. Lexa was certain she had never felt more turned on.

“Please,” she begged desperately.

“Show me,” whispered Clarke, and her eyes followed the path of Lexa’s hand as she plucked it from Clarke’s open mouth, shifting to push her underwear down her own long legs before tumbling back into place, hovering over her. Finding Clarke’s hand, she guided it down to where she felt herself practically dripping. She didn’t even have time to feel shy before Clarke wrapped a firm arm around her waist to hold her in place, sliding a searching finger down and then up along her soaking slit. Lexa pushed herself forward and threw her head back at the sudden jolt of pleasure. She directed Clarke’s fingers to make short, even strokes on the soft slickness around her clit, and then ground her hips down, chasing the intensity. She gasped with a shaky pull of breath and came, hard, with quick jerks of her hips, feeling the pleasure jolting through her from head to toes. When she collapsed bonelessly into the warm cradle of Clarke’s soft body, she was feeling far too satisfied to feel embarrassed about just how quickly Clarke could make her fall apart.  

As she fell flat back on the bed, still breathing heavily, Clarke pressed firmly up against her side, brushing loose curls from her face as she gazed down and leaned in to kiss her sweetly. Too exhausted to move, she felt Clarke pull her around to cradle her hips, entwining their hands together and spooning softly against her back. Lexa could only let out a contented sigh, and muttered, “Best Halloween ever,” into the quiet of the room, and her lips quirked up as Clarke pressed a low chuckle into the crook of her neck.

If she hadn’t been so wrapped up in the feeling of Clarke’s arms circling her waist, the warm, even breathing in her hair as the other girl fell into sleep against smooth caress of the soft sheets on their bare skin, she may have noticed as the spell book suddenly shifted in place on the bedside table, glowing eerily in the dark room as the eye cracked open, searchingly.   



	4. Just.. like.. this!

When Lexa finally woke, curled warm and cozy in her bed, she slowly blinked her eyes open to the fleeting feeling that she was caught up in the craziest dream, something about being electrocuted and.. kissing? Rolling over flat on the soft sheets, she couldn’t help but let a tiny groan escape when her muscles protested and she realized she was sore all over. At the low chuckle that emerged from off her right, she turned her head to see Clarke, sitting cross legged on the floor of her room, peering back at her with warm affection. Oh, definitely not a dream, then. _Awesome._   

Flopping over to face the other girl, Lexa rested her head on the cradle of her arms and she blinked, slowly, at the realization that Clarke had finally taken her up on her offer of raiding her wardrobe, and had chosen to pilfer Lexa’s very favorite _Heaven on Earth_ tour t-shirt; it was draped tightly around the other girl’s curves and appeared to be the only thing she had bothered to put on. Lexa felt her ears grow hot at and she swore she’d never be able to hear Belinda Carlisle again without feeling just _oppressively_ gay.

Clarke continued flipping through a stack of CD’s from her spot on the floor, pulling out The Cranberries and pretending to study it in the low light. “It’s 5am, Lex, go back to sleep.”

She blinked, once, and glanced up at the window; it was still pitch dark outside, and the soft glow of the room still came only from the string of fairy lights she had tacked artistically to her wall in a fit of interior decorating inspiration the day they had moved in. She yawned, rolling her neck, before settling back down into the warmth.

“And you’re still here. Won’t your mother be worried?”

Clarke made a mildly disgusted face, and kept flipping. “I’m putting her off,” she sighed, “the more I think about it, I’m sure I’d rather deal with undead evil again.”

Lexa let out a soft laugh. Clarke paused, smirking slightly at her own joke before staring up at her seriously. “I’m still trying to figure out how to work around this,” and Clarke made that subtle little gesture with her fingers again, curling them and miming between them, “but I’ll work it out, I promise.” She gave Lexa a shy smile, and Lexa could swear she felt her stomach flip a full rotation.  

She couldn’t help but beam back over at Clarke before she buried her head back down in her arms as she tried to stifle an absolutely massive yawn. Clarke fully laughed at her now, her voice high and bright, and Lexa grinned openly into the space between her arms. “I’m gonna put on some coffee,” Lexa mumbled, mostly to herself, “and check on Aden.”

The same moment she sat up in bed, she realized just _how_ very naked she was, and, though she managed locate her underwear somewhere off to her left, and she didn’t miss the way Clarke’s cheeks suddenly dusted pink as the top sheet covering her torso drooped and shifted around her. She stuck her arm out to locate the nearest object of clothing and finally plucked Clarke’s oversized sweater off the floor from where it had been hastily discarded last night off the side of the bed. When she slipped it on and moved towards the door, she swore she actually felt Clarke’s eyes pop up from her sorting and track her movements the entire way across the room. Lexa shot her back a smirk. _Well, two could play this game, too._

After a beat, she popped her head back into her own room, her face drawn. “They’re both still totally passed out,” Lexa looked slightly pained, “but I swear I heard Aden purring!”

Clarke giggled at the dismayed look on her face. “Bellamy’s influence?”

Lexa frowned. “Cursed demon boy or not, that cat is a bit of dick.” She heard Clarke _tisk_ , disapprovingly, and she hastily added, “I.. I mean before you get to know him?”

Always thinking the best of everyone, even when she clearly should not, Clarke shook her head and peered up at Lexa. “He’s just.. misunderstood? Tragic backstory, abandonment issues, immortal, so lots of time to angst.”

Lexa pursed her lips. _Right._   

Clarke’s face brightened. “We should do something for him, maybe we can fix it!” and in a flash she popped up from her spot on the floor, grabbing the spell book where it had been abandoned on the bedside table last night. Moving to the bed, she patted the space next to her invitingly.

“The witches used it to put the spell on him. Maybe there's a way in here to take it off,” she said excitedly, and Lexa scowled a bit more, but took her place next to Clarke on the bed.     

“Mmm, I don't know.” Lexa was certain her muscles were still aching from all that running around and panic of last night; the next time she took a shower, she was fairly sure she’d find her body absolutely littered with bruises.  
  
Never one to back down from a challenge, even when it was clearly a terrible idea, Clarke bumped into her shoulder, sticking her pretty pink tongue between her lips playfully. “Well, the witches are dead. What harm could it do?”  
  
Lexa was reminded, as Clarke shot her a teasing look, that not _all_ that soreness was witch-inflicted, and she relented with a sigh. “Well, just be careful.”  
  
“I will,” Clarke nodded eagerly, then, softly, “hold my hand.”  
  
“All right.”

Clarke reached over to thread their fingers together, as she splayed the heavy tome out on her lap and cracked it open. If Lexa hadn’t been so preoccupied with the way her skin tingled where Clarke’s bare thighs brushed against hers, or flushed with the warm feeling of their palms pressed together, she may have noticed the spell book begin to emit a faint, orange glow, swirling over the pages in a wave before spiraling straight up in the air and through the ceiling.

“Nothing weird so far,” she said, staring over at the way Clarke’s golden hair tumbled down in pretty waves over her shoulders as she leaned down study the book.

“Oh, listen to this, Lex,” she read, happily, “Only a circle of salt can protect thy victims from thy power.”

Lexa hummed. “Useful.”

“It would do in a pinch,” answered Clarke, “but that cat is already too salty.”

Just as she started to open her mouth to laugh at Clarke’s terrible joke, a furious whirl of black fur and yowling suddenly darted straight between them, causing the girls to jump back in alarm and the bound leather volume to tumble to the floor, tilting to the side precariously before falling flat and closing with a definitive _thud_ .  
  
“Nothing good can come from this book. You got it?” Bellamy hissed angrily from the floor in front of them, his paws pressed heavily on the book and his whiskers bristling furiously.

Clarke was clearly taken aback at the scolding tone. “But.. but we were just trying to help you!” 

“Well, _don't!_ ” he shouted, his voice heavy with emotion and his deep yellow eyes echoing with the ghosts of his past.

“Relax, man,” Lexa started, “we didn’t know. We just thought maybe there was some kind of counterspell-”

“You need to wake up. And don't tell me the difference between light and dark magic, it’s all the same!” Bellamy’s hackles were raised fully as he worked himself into more and more of a fit, completely ignoring any reasonable explanation. He rounded on Clarke, practically spitting “I, for one, won't let anyone else _die_ for that mistake!”

“Huh?” said Lexa, her brow raising in confusion, “I’m pretty sure she didn’t do anything. Hey!”

Bellamy did not answer for his behavior in the least, and angrily stalked out of the room, his tail twitching heatedly. She chanced a look over at Clarke, but she was staring at his retreating form with a crestfallen expression. 

“Maybe I should go now,” Clarke muttered, and Lexa shot Bellamy’s retreating behind her very nastiest glare. _That fucking emo cat._

\--

Watching Clarke quickly dress, her head down, Lexa clenched her jaw and tried to ignore her growing frustration that their peaceful moment had been blown apart yet again by circumstances; it was almost as if the universe was trying to sacrifice character development to further some ridiculous plot. Well, she certainly wasn’t about to let bad writing spoil her day, if she could help it.

“Hey,” she said to Clarke, catching her gently by the hand, “come with me.”

Clarke still wouldn’t look her in the eyes, but nodded, trailing along behind her. Lexa lead her down the stairs and over to the kitchen, releasing her grip only to throwing open the pantry, and she lifted herself up on her tiptoes to start rummaging through the dry goods. She shoved past stacked cans of 7UP and a half-empty bag of flour, until she finally located the large round canister of table salt she knew had been there.

Lexa stuck her arm up in the air, victoriously, before turning to face Clarke and cradling it in one hand. She didn’t miss the way that Clarke’s eyes had been tracking the span of her bare legs as she searched, but let Clarke drop her gaze and shuffle her feet nervously without further comment.

“A defense mechanism if the witches do return,” said Lexa seriously, and started scanning over the label with rapt attention.

“Well, what does it say?” asked Clarke, apparently willing to play along, as the corners of her lips finally upturned, ever so slightly.

Lexa hummed for a moment before a smile cracked across on her face. “It says to form a circle a salt to protect from zombies, witches, judgmental felines,” she paused for emphasis, “and old boyfriends.”

To her delight, Clarke actually let out a bubble of laughter at her bad joke and her pretty blue eyes finally shot up to meet hers; they shared a genuine smile, before Clarke seemed to grow bold and and pressed closer, reaching out a soft hand to tip under Lexa’s chin. “And what about new.. girlfriends?” she asked, not able to disguise the hopeful waver at the end of her question.

If Lexa was the type to talk about such things, and she wasn’t, she would fully deny that in that moment, she let out a happy sounding gasp at the thrill that jolted through her. Schooling her face back into a neutral expression, her eyes were still playful as she nodded, once. “I can’t imagine you need any protection from that.”

Clarke laughed at her antics and let her eyes drop heavily to Lexa’s lips, and then darted back up to her eyes, before reaching a hand out and wrapping around the back of her neck, tugging her close and brushing their lips together. Lexa’s whole body lit up at the contact, and she let her hands fall to Clarke’s waist, pulling her close and deepening the kiss. _Point for stupid wordplay, Woods._

Because they could never have nice things, ever, an odd thumping noise abruptly echoed down the stairs, followed by a low groan, and Lexa pulled back from Clarke in alarm. They looked at each other with wide eyes, before Lexa gasped, “Aden!” and they took off towards the bedrooms, Lexa taking the stairs two by two and Clarke in hot pursuit. On the landing, Clarke tore off to the right in the direction of her bedroom, while Lexa quickly ducked her head into Aden’s room, eyes darting around the room with dread. It was dark and silent, and the duvet-covered lump in the middle of her little brother’s bed didn’t move. Lexa felt an eerie sort of icy tingle running up her spine, as if something seriously wasn’t right.

“Lexa, the book is gone!” said Clarke, breathless, when she appeared in the doorway only a moment later, and Lexa swallowed down the heavy feeling as she gingerly approached her little brother’s bed, reaching an arm out, “Aden, Aden wake up!” she whispered, shaking him urgently.

In an instant, the covers of the bed flew back and the huge, menacing form of Roan popped up from under the sheet. “Trick-or-treat!” he shouted, grabbing for her, and the two girls jumped back, screaming.

The closet doors behind them suddenly flew open, and Ontari and Nia stepped out, fully alive, unburnt, and cackling.

“Looking for this?” Ontari had clamped a firm hand over Aden’s mouth to muffle his screams as he struggled and gripped a wiggling, angrily-yowling cloth bag in the other.  
  
“Or this?” Nia leered over at Lexa, waving the spell book clutched firmly in her claw-like hand. She glanced over at Clarke, now ducking and weaving around the bedroom furniture as Roan stumbled and chased after her. _Oh, shit._  

The room was completely silent for a long, tense moment as Nia stared her down, and Lexa didn’t breathe.

“You know, I’ve always wanted a child. And now I think I’ll have one… toasted!” Nia screeched, before thrusting out her fist in a crackle of green lightning and blasting Lexa straight in the gut, sending her reeling across the room and flying into the bookshelf lining the wall; she slammed into it, then dropped to the floor in as a shower of heavy books rained down around her.

Splayed out on the floor, a creeping darkness set in, and then nothing.

She came to, some point later, as the sound of scrambling feet and the low rush of voices flittered through the din. “Salt! Ha! What a clever little white witch. But it will not save thy friends. No!” A heavy creak, more shuffling, and then, “Come, children. The candle's magic is almost spent. Dawn approaches.”

Lexa tried to crack her eyes open at the cut of muffled screaming and a the crash of a deafening bang, before the room was filled with the clattering of splintered wood and glass and the cold rush of night air. Prying open one eye with great effort, she could just make out the fuzzy profile of Clarke, standing over her defensively as the the trio of witches took to their brooms and zoomed high into the air through the jagged edges of the broken cupola.

“Ohh..” she moaned, her entire body tingling and her head throbbing, as Clarke ducked down and swam into her vision, cupping her cheeks and looking at her in concern.

“Are you okay?” she whispered softly.

Lexa groaned again, but nodded, attempting to clear her woozy head. She sat up cautiously, hand braced on the bookshelf, before it dawned on her in a spike of panic, “Where's Aden?”  

Clarke pulled her up and wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders and helped her lip over to the massive hole left gaping in the side of the house, the rounded roof dome blasted clean off and the windows shattered. High above them, the three witches circled dangerously in the clear night sky, the moon huge and bright and illuminating the way Aden struggled in the firm grip of Ontari’s hand, the wiggling bag clutched in the other.

And wait, was it the rattling in her brain or was Ontari riding an upright vacuum cleaner instead of a broom? Lexa furiously shook her head, trying to clear the fog.

Above them, Nia’s voice rang through the clear night. “Use thy voice, Roan! Fill the sky! Bring the little brats to die!” and Roan waved his arms in the air, tilting back on his perch and began to sing, in a hauntingly sweet tenor: 

 _Come, little children_  
_I'll take thee away_  
_Into a land_  
_Of enchantment_  
_Come, little children_  
_The time's come to play_  
_Here in my garden_ _  
_ Of magic             

The witches made one more looping circle above the town, before shooting off into the sky with a terrifying wail, and Lexa thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse.

She was proven wrong, only a second later, as Roan’s gentle song seemed to floated down over the sleepy town of Salem, settling there, and Lexa realized with horror that the spell was summoning children; they began to silently pour out of their houses, half-dressed in pajamas and slippers, before shuffling down the road in the direction of the Azgeda House. 

Lexa peered down through the broken wall, “Hey! Hey, you guys! Don't listen to him! Hey! Up here!” she waved her arms frantically, but they kept on moving, a dazed zombie heard of children filling up the empty street.  
        
“Lexa, they’re under a spell, they can’t hear you,” Clarke’s eyes were soft as Lexa turned to look at her, desperate.

“They have Aden, they have the book. And how are they not dead?”

“Well,” Clarke’s voice was even and calm as she propped Lexa’s sagging body up with one arm and ran soothing circles on her back with the other, “I imagine that the candle’s magic has made them immortal for this entire night, and until the dawn, nothing can touch them. I mean we really _did_ try our best to fry them.”

Lexa’s shoulders drooped, “And now that they have the book, they can brew up the potion and already have all the children of Salem coming to serve themselves up. We’ll never find a way to stop them in time.” She felt lost, and turned to Clarke, her face stricken. “What now?”

Not hesitating, Clarke reached a hand out to cup her cheek with gentle fingers, and gave her a reassuring smile. “You seem to forget that desperate, ill-conceived plans are my specialty. And I just might have one more.”

Lexa stilled and inhaled deeply, absorbing some of Clarke’s confidence and nodding her head. “Ok.”

Clarke turned her mouth up in the quirk of a smile as she smoothed down her hair affectionately, pausing to pick a broken bit of wood from behind her ear. “This will work,” she said, looking Lexa square in the eye, “but first, Lex, you have to put some clothes on.”

Lexa blinked once at her, owlishly, before glancing down. _Right, can’t save the world without pants._

\--

Moments later and hastily dressed, the two girls had armed themselves as best they could, Lexa a baseball bat and Clarke a tire iron, and piled into Lexas car. Though she attempted to speed all the way to the old museum, they were caught up  in the slow shuffle of trance-like children as they tried to make their way down the road. She pressed on the horn and attempted to drive around them, but there were dazed children absolutely everywhere, and they could only inch forward at a crawl.

“Come on!” Lexa’s grip was white on the steering wheel. “Move it!” Clarke gave her a tight smile and patted her knee. After what felt like an eternity, they pulled up at the large iron gate to the old Azgeda House, much as they had earlier that evening; Lexa was out the driver’s door in a flash, grasping the bat firmly in her hand as she dashed up the twisted stone path, her heart pounding.

She hopped up the steps, then paused, panting, taking a deep breath and-

Suddenly, an eerie green smoke began pouring out from under the door, billowing and swirling in the air, before the door slammed open with a bang and she was forced to jump back. After a beat, Aden came crashing out, Bellamy at his heels.

“Hi Lexa!” he said brightly, taking in her shocked expression with a grin.

“You.. you don’t need rescuing?” she sputtered after a long moment, disbelieving.

“Nope!” he happily chirped, “could use a ride though, they might be mad.” He held up his hands, showing her the spell book, and darted down the stairs, Bellamy right in his wake.

“Oh, they’re definitely mad,” laughed Bellamy and Lexa groaned. _Great, more_ _male bonding._

Gingerly, Lexa poked her head into the doorway of the old house and took in the scene, swallowing down a gasp as she saw the extent of the carnage. Broken ropes were still looped around the arms of the wooden chair at the center of the room, and the huge cauldron was tipped fully on its side, thick green liquid splashed haphazardly across the floor and walls. The witches were in the center of the mess, sloshing in the overflow and writhing in agony.

“I’ll get you, you wicked demon! And your little cat, too!” Nia wailed to the ceiling, and Lexa made an appalled face before dashing outside.

Piled back in the car, the rag-tag group were quickly all buckled in tight and ready to go. “Ok, scrap _that_ plan. Now what?” she asked, her hands clutching the wheel as the engine idled.

Clarke piped up from the passenger seat beside her, “Well, since the witches so helpfully explained that they are immortal until sunrise, we need to keep him,” she gestured back to Aden, who beamed, “and that book, safe until then.”

“I _really_ pissed them off,” said Aden happily.

“He _really_ did,” said Bellamy his whiskers twitching with amusement.

She shared a loaded look with Clarke, who smiled and gave her a small shrug. _Right, survive ‘til morning. Good plan._

“So,” Lexa gulped, “who’s up for another trip to the haunted cemetery?”

A wave of cheers came from the back seat, and Lexa grit her teeth, glancing down at the car dash. She _really_ hoped that clock was right.

\--

Despite knowing that returning to the center of a haunted cemetery in the dwindling hours of Halloween night was the very _worst_ idea of all time, Lexa knew they all were fresh out of hallowed ground otherwise and so, by the light of the moon, she picked her way over fallen leaves and tangled tree branches, panning the dark night sky and the edge of the shadowed woods for signs of the imminent attack.

She swallowed down her bad feeling as best she could, and nodded over at Aden, who shot a salute back at her, clutching the book to his chest and still looking a bit too pleased with himself. Tire iron in one hand and canister in the other, Clarke trailed around him in a wide circle, making sure Aden was safely ensconced in a protective ring of salt. Lexa breathed in a deep swallow of crisp night air and stood defensively, bat poised over her shoulder. Bellamy prowled restlessly at her feet, tail flicking expectantly.

After far too little time, the silence was shattered by deafening shrieks as the trio of witches zoomed in over the cemetery on their brooms and began to bitz the three teens as they swooped down at them from all angles. In an instant, Clarke and Bellamy took off running, leading a growling Roan and a wailing Ontari as they split off in different directions. Lexa, hands choking up on the bat, stood firm in her place with Aden at her back, glaring up at Nia.

Suddenly, the lurching figure of Titus appeared to her right, and lunged right for her before she could step away. “Mmmppmmhm!” he yelled, knocking the bat from her hands and grabbing Lexa around the throat with his stiff, putrid fingers, wrapping her in a choke hold and lifting her slightly in the air, so that the toes of her boots could barely brush the ground. 

“Titus! Kill her if you must, just bring me that demon child, that Aden!” Nia screeched, from above, producing a knife from her bodice and quickly tossing it towards him, “And put some wiggle in it, you putrid, festering sore! Kill her!”

One rotting hand squeezing solidly at Lexa’s throat, Titus snatched the blade from the air with surprising agility, and raised it close to her face. Scrambling to get a grip on the decaying fabric of his robe sleeves, she watched with wide eyes as he brought down the knife, closer and closer, before abruptly moving it just past the fragile skin of her exposed neck and using the blade to slice through the rotting leather stitches of his own mouth instead.

“Mmmppmmhm!” he yelled as his mouth fell open, and a flurry of small moths flew out as he expelled a puff of rank air, sputtering wildly as he dropped his hold on her. Lexa jumped away, disgusted, and scrambled back over the rough ground before leaping to her feet. She shot Aden a pinched smile at his wide eyed stare from the circle of salt, and desperately searched for Clarke, finally spotting her locked in a furious three-way battle with Roan and Ontari somewhere off the left. The other girl was clearly holding her own and making the witches dodge and swoop away from her vicious swings, and Lexa felt a small surge of pride.

In front of her, Titus shook his head furiously and raised a fist in the air.

“Wench! Trollop! You buck toothed, mop riding firefly from hell!” he spat up at Nia, his voice now projected clearly in a rich, deep baritone.

“Huh,” said Lexa, and simply stared at the bald zombie as turned to her and whispered, “I've waited centuries to say that.”

Just above them Nia was still screaming in offense, “Titus! I killed you once, I shall kill you again, you maggoty malfeasence! Hang on to your heads!”

High on her broom, Nia pitched wildly to the left and swooped down, with speed, and knocking Titus's head clean off with a thwack as it bounced on the ground and rolled off to the right. Before Lexa could react, Aden had dropped the spell book and was chasing after the bouncing skull, and plucking it from the ground where it had come to a stop in the cradle of a dead tree stump, before jogging back over to Titus’s headless body. Aden stared down at the decapitated head for a long moment, and it blinked back at him.

“This feels..weird,” he hummed curiously, before moving to hand Titus’s lost body part back to him.

“Aden, no!” Lexa shouted at him, realizing just a moment too late that her little brother had left the safety of the salt ring, and now he was in terrible danger. The next instant, Nia swooped in with a victorious cry and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, hoisting him into the air.

“You little pest! I've had enough of you!” she snarled at him, before zooming just out of reach and hovering there as Aden struggled against her grip. 

Lexa could only watch, horrified, from the ground as Nia produced a vial of green liquid and moved to force the potion down Aden’s throat. Suddenly, from off to the left, a frenzied spiral of black fur rushed up the length of a dead tree branch and leapt, hissing furiously as he landed hard against Nia and knocked the potion from her hand. Watching it all unfold from below, Lexa dove to catch the potion in her outstretched arms, realizing they must have had enough of the soul-stealing brew left in the upturned caldron to collect one last dose. She heard, rather than saw, the heavy thud of Bellamy’s body hitting the moss covered mausoleum behind them and drop into a pile of leaves. _Good thing that dumb cat could re-inflate, that sounded painful._  

“Give me that vial!” Nia screeched, livid.

Lexa stood tall and gripped the potion tight in her fist. “Put him down or I'll smash it!” she roared back.

Unshaken, Nia leaned further back on her broom, hoisting the struggling Aden even higher in the air. “Smash it and he dies!” she cackled, a truly wicked grin splitting her face as Lexa stared up at her, in panic.

In a fit of bravery, or stupidity, _or both_ , Lexa glanced from Aden to the potion, and back again, before flicking off the cap and gulping down the liquid in a single swallow, the heavy acidic taste burning all the way down her throat. She sputtered, coughing, and yelled up at the witch, “Now you have no choice! You'll have to take me!” her voice raw and hoarse.

Laughing manically, Nia soared down and released her hold on Aden, and Lexa watched as he tumbled to the ground, but popped back to his feet to snarl back up at the witch after a few awkward rolls. She had just enough time to catch Clarke’s horrified expression as the Ice Queen grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her high up into the air.

“Protect Aden,” she croaked, and Clarke stared back at her with barely-concealed terror in her eyes, but gave a sharp nod before turning to pull Aden back behind her.

“What a fool to give us thy life for thy brother's,” Nia sneered, pulling Lexa’s face uncomfortably close and leaning down with open lips. Really not the kind of girl-on-girl action Lexa was in to, and she scrabbled her hands against Nia’s strong grip as struggled in the air. When the witch started sucking in deep lungfuls of air, a painful tingling started running through Lexa from the tips of her fingers and toes and out her lips. _This is really a stupid way to go,_ she thought hazily, her vision beginning to blur.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clarke and Titus scrambling away from Ontari, the zombie swinging his arms wildly in the air and catching hold of the extension cord dangling from the vacuum cleaner Ontari really _was_ using as a broomstick. Roan squawked and zoomed down to her aid, flying behind his sister and pulling at her waist as a strange kind of tug-of-war ensued.

“Pull! Pull! Harder! Harder!” Clarke cried, and the mid-air struggle lasted for a long, tense moment, before Clarke shouted, “Now!” and Clarke, Aden and Titus released the cord all at once, causing the witches to fly off helplessly into the sky, with a howl. As they zoomed past, Nia wavered, and then tumbled from her broom, but still held fast to Lexa’s shirt collar as she continued to struggle, landing with a thud on the cemetery's hallowed ground. Holding her aloft, Nia did not waver from her goal, but snarled down at Lexa’s pale face. 

“For the last time, prepare to meet thy doom!”

The Ice Queen pulled her close again, opening her lips and sucking in, hard, as Lexa prepared for her very soul to be taken by this awful woman and her undead, black magic. She blinked slowly, and glanced over the treeline to take in the last sight she’d likely ever see.

“There.. there is one thing I know that you don’t,” Lexa choked, blinking back at the witch.

“Oh, hast thee some final words about defeating me?” Nia mocked, “Hmmm? Love is the most powerful weapon? Friendship is magic?”

Lexa simply stared, giving nothing away.

“Hogswallop! All of it!” Nia screeched. “They _lied_ to you! There is nothing more powerful than pain, and the pain is truly delicious.” She leaned in a final time, preparing for the kill.

“No,” Lexa gasped, looking deep into the witch’s eyes as she shook her head. “Today is daylight savings.. bitch.”

Just then, the sun began to peek through the trees, rising like a heavenly ball of glowing light from the horizon of the cemetery and bathing the scene in a pale golden warmth. Nia, her grip slackening, stared in wonderment between the sun, then at Lexa, and back again, finally standing frozen, fixated on the sight. Her feet firmly planted on hallowed ground, she glanced down in horror as the creeping light hit the patch of dirt at her feet and she began to turn to stone from the toes up, petrifying her fully after only a moment, her face twisted into a furious expression.

Above them, the other two witches looked at each other, screeched, and then abruptly disintegrated in a poof of glitter and curses; to their right, Titus hummed happily and keeled over with a thump back into his grave, the curse on him finally broken.

Her shirt still tangled in Nia’s sharp stone claws, Lexa struggled and fell heavily to the ground with an _oof_ , and ripping three vertical lines straight down the front of her shirt. Good thing she had just so much flannel, she thought she was willing to sacrifice at least one in defense of the world.

“Lexa!” Clarke rushed over to her, falling to her knees and grasping her shoulders, searching her face for further signs of injury, aside from the clubbing and the choking and the poisoning that had already been counted. Lexa flashed her a small smile as she sat up, and was immediately tackled in a tight hug by Aden. _Oh, that was all going to smart in the morning._

The three teens sat, bathed in warm sunlight in the middle of the abandoned cemetery, simply clinging to each other for a long, comforting moment.

“You saved my life!” Aden gasped, with a smile, before schooling his face. “That's cool.”

“I had to. I'm your big sister.” She reached out to ruffle his hair.

“I love you, jerkface.” He pawed her hand away.

“I love you, too, Aden.” She smiled at him. Everything was going to be ok. “Let’s go ho-”

“Bellamy!” Aden cried, as his eyes fell on the spot where Bellamy’s body had landed, the black of his fur still collapsed and unmoving in a large pile of orange leaves. “He’s dead!” Aden cried as he rushed over, genuinely distraught at the sight, “he’s.. he’s just gone!”

“Oh no,” Lexa mumbled, struggling to her feet, “so sad.” When Clarke elbowed her gently in the ribs, she winced, “I mean-”

Suddenly, the ghostly form of a handsome man in colonial garb was standing before them, his deep expressive eyes crinkling, and a mop of curly dark hair falling around his face. He was radiant.

_Bellamy’s spirit, finally free._

“Huh.” Lexa said. She thought he’d be taller. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clarke regard him curiously, then blink and shake her head, no.

Turning to face her little brother, Bellamy reached out with a gentle hand to touch his face. “Aden, come on please don't be sad for me,” the ghost consoled, “the witches are dead, my soul is finally free. You freed me, Aden! I’m only sad I had to wait 300 years for a virgin to light a candle.”

At that, Aden abruptly jerked away and pulled a face. “Just let it go, man! You’re going to give me a complex.” He tossed his arms in the air, irritated, as he huffed away.

Next, Bellamy swiveled his head to regard Lexa, seriously, opening his mouth to give more parting advice. “Take good care of Aden, Lexa, you'll never know how precious he is until you lose him.”

“Obviously.” she said flatly, looking over at him with narrowed eyes, “because I didn’t just risk my ass! These are not normal heroics for a high school student, you know!”

He was already walking away.

“Can I get a little appreciation?” She threw her hands up, exasperated, and then glanced over at Clarke, who simply shrugged and then placed a lingering kiss to her cheek, pressing close and twining their arms together. She felt warmth spread from where Clarke tangled their fingers together, and she sighed, smiling.

Without warning, out of the mist, a pretty girl of about sixteen appeared in the distance, wrapped in a billowy white dress with raven-colored hair streaming out behind her as though floating in a light breeze.

“Bellamy Binx? Where are you, Bellamy Binx?” she called out, searching.

Bellamy turned and shot the three teens a soulful look back, his face breaking into a smile, before rounding to face the pretty girl and greeting his sister after 300 long years. “Octavia!”

The two lost souls were finally reunited, standing face to face and staring deeply into each other’s eyes, for what seemed like an eternal moment.

Bellamy reached for her hand. “I’m here, Octavia, at last! I'm here and you’re never going to be out of my sight again.”

At that, Octavia tossed him a dirty look and threw her arms in the air. “Oh, my god, Bellamy. It was _one_ date!” she practically shouted.

“You got yourself _killed_!” he shouted back.

“At least _I_ didn’t die a virgin.” Her hands were on her hips now, as she sassed him.

 _“What?_ Octavia!”

If a ghost.. boy.. thing.. could turn bright red, he did, and he opened his mouth, gaping as she shoved him roughly in the shoulder. They continued that way, arguing furiously, as a bright, heavenly light surrounded them and they shimmered and faded into nothing.

“Oh,” said Lexa. Well, she certainly didn’t see that one coming.

“Hmmm,” said Clarke as they shared a dumbfounded look. After a moment, Lexa cracked a grin. _Best not to think about it._

At her side, Aden shook his head sadly, “I’m gonna miss that stupid cat.”

Lexa reached out a hand and gently pat his head. “It’s ok, bud. We’ll get you a dog.”

She pulled Clarke close and leaned into her ear, whispering conspiratorially, “One that doesn’t talk!” and Clarke threw her head back and laughed, brightly.

They walked home together, holding hands, dazzling sunlight pouring in over the trees.

\--

_Somewhere, tossed carelessly on a pile of upturned soil and dead leaves, the spell book cracked open its eye, blinking once._

-The End-

**Author's Note:**

> For all the thirsty prompt anons and the author of the fantastic SpideyLexa AU who keeps us all on track. Tick tock. 
> 
> :dramaqueen:


End file.
